FairyTail: Sin and Virtue
by WolfSpire
Summary: There's a new dark guild in Fiore, and it's up to Fairy Tail to defeat it. They call themselves Apocalypse Keyes. The Fairy Tail wizards have to go through a trial to find out which members hold the power to defeat the dark guild's 7 Deadly Sins and Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse. Sequel to Trust Me (NaLu, NaLi, other ships, action, drama, humor, some mature content. R&R please :)
1. Chapter 1

( To avoid any further confusion, this is a sequel to the story Trust Me, which can be found on my profile.)

It had been months.

Months since her and the other dragon slayers came out victorious in their battle against an Earth dragon. Months since her, Natsu, Happy, and Juvia had returned from their battles after missing for days. Everything was calm in Fiore. No trouble, no drama. The Fairy Tail wizards were free to vacation, relax, go on jobs to make jewels to pay their rents. Summer was long gone, but the world was speckled in brilliant reds, oranges, and yellows because Autumn was upon them. The air was crisp and fresh and smelled of a camp fire.

Ember looked over to her right. Laxus was snoring soundly next to her, not yet up for the morning. She traced his shoulder and chest tattoo with her eyes, studied his face. From his messy blonde hair to the lightning bolt shaped scar over his right eye. At their feet her Hell Hound Nunu snored like a large bear. His gray and black fur twitched along with his dreams, the ram-like horns on his head making him look menacing. She smiled.

She had only been a member of Fairy Tail for a few months. She had joined in the summer. But it felt as if she had been a member for years. The guild was her family, plain and simple. Even despite her dark past of being birthed by Zeref and raised by Acnologia, everyone accepted her. She couldn't be happier.

Sitting up and stretching her arms over her head she let out a loud yawn. Laxus snorted and stirred in his sleep, obviously disturbed by the sudden noise. She looked down at him and waited for his eyes to open. They opened slowly, and he grunted when he saw that she was staring at him.

"Good morning." Ember smiled.

"Hmmmpphhh." Laxus grumbled.

"I'm going to get dressed and head down to the guild hall. Meet me down there when you wake up?" Ember asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed.

"Mmmmm." Laxus said without moving his mouth, and rolled over so his back was facing her.

He fell back to sleep quickly, she could tell by the shallow steadiness of his breaths. Waking up to his scent made her feel energized. Oncoming rain clouds and electricity. The smell of a thunder storm. She got up off the bed and got dressed into her street clothes. She gave Nunu a pat goodbye on his head and then grabbed her leather jacket off the coat rack and put it on. When her hooded cloak got destroyed in the battle against the Earth dragon she decided she needed an upgrade, and she went with a leather motor-bike coat.

Ember looked back at the sleeping Laxus and Nunu one more time and then left for the guild hall with a smile on her face.

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The Fairy Tail guild hall was quiet. The morning was still fresh and a lot of the wizards had not woken up yet, or had already gone out on jobs. Some wizards had been gone on jobs for days. It was unusual for the guild hall to be so quiet, even in the morning. There was always something going on at Fairy Tail. This made MiraJane feel uncomfortable. Of course she wouldn't let on to these feelings to just anyone, because she didn't want anyone else to feel uncomfortable. It was her job to make everyone feel as comfortable as possible.

She grabbed a cloth from under the counter and started wiping down the bar. There wasn't much else for her to do. She hummed sweetly as she did it, and was startled when a hand slammed down on the bar, demanding her attention. Mira looked up and saw her good friend Cana. Cana's wavy brown hair was barely brushed, and her purple eyes were still heavy with sleep. She let out a sigh and sat down in a bar stool, looking at Mira with tired eyes.

"Cana, you look so tired!" Mira gasped.

"Yeah. I didn't sleep very well. Had to much to drink last night when I went out with Baccus." Cana sighed.

"Are you guys official yet?" Mira smiled slyly.

"No. Can you just get me a drink?" Cana sneered.

"Isn't it a bit early for that? And what is he waiting for anyways? You two are always hanging out." Mira said as she filled a mug with ale and put it down on the bar in front of Cana.

Cana shrugged and then tilted her head back, chugging down her ale. The mug was almost empty. She slammed it down on the bar top and took in a deep breath, making the large breasts in her blue bikini top puff out. She let the breath out hard and long. Mira looked at her friend with sympathy. She knew that Cana liked Baccus as more than a friend. Her and the S-Class wizard of Quatro Cerberus had been spending time together since the Grand Magic Games. But nothing had come of it yet. Mira didn't understand why.

"Men are just allergic to me Mira." Cana sighed, laying her head on the bar.

"Oh no they are not! Maybe you should say something. Get the ball rolling." Mira suggested.

"Hm. Maybe."

Juvia walked into the guild hall wide awake and ready to take on the day. She smoothed down her black dress and straightened her russian style winter hat. Her aqua blue hair came down over her shoulders in slight waves, her eyes as blue as the ocean on a bright summer day. She spotted Gray, the love of her life, sitting at a table by himself. Natsu and the others hadn't shown up yet for the day. She walked over to the wooden table and took a seat next to Gray.

The raven haired Ice-make wizard looked at Juvia with a smile. He was sipping from a glass of ice water, and his shirt was off, showing off his Fairy Tail guild mark on his chest. Gray being shirtless was not out of the ordinary. It was common for him to strip his clothes in times of stress, or even boredom. Any time really. It was a habit he picked up when he was being trained by his mentor Ur with Lyon of Lamia Scale.

"Good morning Gray." Juvia said with a smile.

"Juvia. You seem to be in good spirits today." Gray nodded at her.

"Yes. Juvia is in a very good mood today. The day is lovely." Juvia said.

"It is a really nice day. Quiet. Crisp and cool. Aaahhh I love Autumn. Not as much as Winter, but close enough." Gray smiled.

Juvia smiled happily and nodded in agreement. Before she could speak to Gray about anything else the doors to the guild hall opened. A short white haired old man and an attractive redhead in armor walked in. It was Master Makarov and Erza. Makarov went straight for the bar and Erza sent a smile and nod over in Gray and Juvia's direction. They smiled and nodded back.

"Oh good morning Master! Erza!" Mira chirped happily.

"Good morning Mira." The Master smiled. Erza smiled as well.

Makarov crawled onto the top of the bar and waited for Mira to hand him a mug. When she filled a mug and handed it to him he drank it steadily, and when he pulled it from his lips he closed his eyes and let out an 'aaahhh' with a smile. Erza shook her head and took a seat next to Cana on one of the bar stools.

"Why are you guys here so early?" Cana asked.

"We are expecting guests." Makarov answered.

"Who?" Mira asked excitedly.

"Crime Sorciere." Erza said, with a smile on her face.

Mira and Cana raised their eyebrows. They had no idea why Crime Sorciere would be coming for an official visit. One that would get the Master out of bed early and down to the guild hall. But they knew why Erza was smiling about it. Jellal was the leader of Crime Sorciere, an unofficial guild that's mission was to stop dark guilds. He was also one of Erza's oldest friends, and at one time enemy. They were now very close. Not just in a friendly way but in a romantic one. No one knew for sure exactly how far their relationship went, but all you had to do was look at them, or stand close enough, and you could feel their connection and love for one another.

Ember walked into the guild hall and sat down on the other side of Cana. Everyone wished her a good morning and she wished them one back. She was also in a good mood that day. The beautiful weather and crisp Autumn air was rubbing off on everyone that day.

"Master, why are you here so early?" Ember asked.

"Guests." Makarov repeated.

"Oh, Okay." Ember said with a nod and left it alone. She turned to Cana and started having a conversation about her night with Baccus, and about her feelings on the matter. Mira joined them and the three of them sank into a deep girl talk. Makarov and Erza just sat at the bar, and waited.

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He watched them.

The pink haired fire dragon slayer, and the blonde celestial wizard. He watched them as they walked down the cobblestone road towards the Fairy Tail guild hall. He ran a calloused hand through his spiked fire red hair. His gray eyes grew wide with interest.

He watched them intently.

He watched them until they disappeared out of his view.

"Soon, Salamander. Soon." He snickered.

They were now gone in the distance.

He disappeared into the shadows.

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Natsu and Lucy arrived at the guild hall, the blue furred cat Happy flying above them. The two wizards and the exceed entered the building and went straight for their usual table. Gray and Juvia were already sitting there and conversating.

Lucy shook off the weird feeling she had been having on the way to the guild hall. She had felt like they were being watched, but every time she looked around there was no one to be seen. She decided it was probably just paranoia and pushed all the negative thoughts to the back of her mind. She sat down next to Natsu.

"Why is gramps here so early?" Natsu asked.

"No idea." Gray shrugged.

"Erza is here too. But she isn't over here. I wonder why." Lucy wondered out loud.

"Who cares. Gray, go get me some food. I'm so hungry." Natsu said rubbing his growling belly.

"Aye!" Happy cheered.

"Are you shitting me? Go get your own food! Since when am I your butler fire breath?" Gray snapped.

"I'm too hungry to move." Natsu sighed.

"Sucks for you then doesn't it?" Gray laughed.

"If I wasn't so hungry, I would toast you. Actually, maybe I will. I wonder what you would taste like?" Natsu said with a huge grin on his face.

"You'll be an ice cube before you can even try it! Creepy!" Gray said balling his hands into fists.

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She looked through the window.

She watched as the pink haired dunce fought with an angry looking dark haired male of similar age. She sneered at their immaturity and rolled her eyes. But she could sense someone coming, and she couldn't linger there much longer. She couldn't get caught.

Quickly, she pulled a dark hood over her dark green hair. The hood was large enough to hide her face. The cloak large enough to hide her form.

She disappeared into the hustle and bustle of the citizens of Magnolia.

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Crime Sorciere arrived at Fairy Tail punctually. They came in the front doors of the guild hall with grace and looked at no one. Only three members had come. Jellal, their leader, a red tattoo over his right eye and his blue hair in his face. Meredy, his second in command, her wavy pink hair up in a high ponytail that fell down her back. And Cobra, the poison dragon slayer and former member of Oracion Seis and also Ember's brother, a large scar over the right eye that he sacrificed in order to use his super hearing more efficiently. Their presence silenced the wizards of Fairy Tail that were present, but they paid no mind. They went straight to Master Makarov.

"Master Makarov, good morning." Jellal said with a courteous nod.

"Hello Jellal. I take it you are not here for a simple friendly visit?" Makarov asked.

"No sir. Official business, and it's quite important." Jellal said seriously.

"That doesn't sound good." Cana grumbled.

"Sssshhhhh." Mira hissed.

"Can we speak in private?" Jellal asked, giving a sideways glance at Cana, Ember and Mira.

Makarov nodded and jumped off the bar. Erza followed right behind him, and Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra silently followed after her. Ember slammed her fist down on the bar.

"Way to say hi to your sister you jerk!" Ember yelled after Cobra.

"Ember!" Mira gasped, but she hid a giggle with her hand.

Cobra glanced over his shoulder and smiled at her, but he didn't say anything. He was following strict orders. Ember smiled back at him, she had only been teasing. She watched as her Master, Erza, and the members of Crime Sorciere disappeared. A knot formed in her stomach. Something didn't feel right. Something in the air didn't smell right.

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Makarov sat behind a dark mahogany desk in an oversized plush chair. Erza stood next to him with her arms crossed over her chest, a serious expression on her face that only softened when she made eye contact with Jellal. Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra stood in a row in front of the desk in uniform fashion.

"You can sit down you know." Makarov said.

The three wizards looked at each other. The tension in their bodies eased and they each took a seat. But Erza still stood next to her Master, looking like his number one soldier. Jellal looked at Meredy, speaking to her with his eyes, and she nodded, then turned to Makarov.

"There's a new dark guild in Fiore. For the most part they are pretty mysterious, since we don't know their goals. But we have dug up information, and we have sensed their magic power." Meredy said in a steady voice.

"A new dark guild huh? We haven't had much issues from the dark guilds any time recently." Makarov said with a raised eyebrow.

"No. None of them have acted out in any dramatic way. After Grimoire Heart was taken down years ago by Fairy Tail at Tenrou Island, none of them have gone to the extra length to cause much trouble." Jellal nodded.

"The situation at the Grand Magic games wasn't the doing of a dark guild. So that disaster can't be penned on them. Unfortunately we lost Ultear in that battle. But she is forever remembered." Meredy sighed.

"Of course she is." Makarov nodded.

"Anyways, we are getting off track. This guild specifically isn't something we can sit by and ignore. We need to take them down before they start something that will be harder to finish." Jellal said, his face going dark.

"Well, get on with it. Tell us what you know." Makarov grumbled.

"They are called Apocalypse Keyes. They are made up of 7 strong wizards. They call themselves the Seven Deadly Sins."

"You mean like Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Sloth, Pride, Wrath, and Greed?"

"Correct. So it is to be assumed that each member aligns themselves with one sin. Kind of like how Phantom Lord's Element 4 members aligned with the main four elements."

"Hmm. Okay. So we team together and take them down, is that your plan?"

"It's not that simple. From the information we have dug up, for one of the Sins to be defeated, they must be defeated by a wizard that embodies one of the 7 Heavenly Virtues. Each sin has a corresponding virtue."

"I don't understand. How do we know if a wizard embodies one of the Virtues?"

"That is up to you to find out. We came to Fairy Tail because we knew that if any Guild in Fiore had 7 wizards that would embody these Virtues, it would be you guys. But it is up to you to figure out which of your children will be going into this fight."

"Master, it sounds almost like we will have to have a trial. Like the S-class exam." Erza joined into the conversation. Everyone looked at her.

"These Virtues are not based on battle strength. This is someones soul we are talking about. The Sin's power comes from their inner soul, therefore the wizard going against them needs to have that Virtue in theirs. That's the only way of defeat. So a battle royale is not going to give you any answers." Meredy said.

"Then it will have to be a trial of Virtue then. Not of battle strength. You three will help me with this, correct?"

"Absolutely."

"One more question before we go into details on how to deal with this problem. Are the 7 Sin's the only members?"

"No. There are four elite wizards as well. Their version of S-class. The leaders. They won't even show their faces as long as the 7 Sin's are around."

"And who are these four wizards?"

"They are called The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse."

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While Makarov, Erza, and the Crime Sorciere wizards were talking privately somewhere else in the guild hall, more Fairy Tail wizards had shown their faces in the guild hall. Like everyone else before them, they had shown up in good spirits and in good moods, but once news spread that Crime Sorciere was in a meeting with the Master, everyone's moods changed. They knew it couldn't be good news if the conversation had to be done in private. Everything had been going so well lately that the wizards had totally forgotten that they lived in a world where problems could arise any second.

The group at the bar had grown exponentially in size. Freed, Evergreen, Elfman, Laxus, and Bickslow had joined Mira, Cana, and Ember. Lisanna sat at a table with Wendy, Levy, and Gajeel, as the black exceed Pantherlily and the white exceed Carla socialized with Happy. Romeo sat with his father Macao and also Wakaba at another table, but he kept looking over at Wendy, both of them blushing anytime they made eye contact.

"I hope it isn't anything to serious. Can I get you another drink Freed?" Mira said calmly.

"Yes. Thank you MiraJane." Freed said politely, and a slight blush graced his cheeks. He tried hiding it behind his long pale green hair.

"Grow some balls, Freed." Evergreen chuckled when Mira walked away to refill Freed's mug. Everyone knew he had a crush on Mira, but he still wouldn't do anything about it.

"Be a real man!" Elfman hooted.

"Aw leave him alone guys. He will say something when he feels the time is right." Ember cooed, nudging Freed in the shoulder. He shot her a smile.

"Yeah right!" Bickslow laughed creepily. The floating dolls that followed him everywhere, his babies, repeated after him in the bone chilling way they usually did.

"Like you can talk. Freak." Cana said under her breath. Laxus snorted trying to hold back a laugh.

"Here you go Freed." Mira said with a smile, handing Freed his drink. The conversation abruptly stopped at her return.

"I swear if we have to fight another dragon I'm going to be pissed." Laxus grunted.

"I will have to agree with that." Ember nodded.

Lisanna giggled as she noticed Wendy blushing every time her and Romeo's eyes met. They were both so young, so innocent. She thought it was absolutely adorable. She remembered what it was like to be young and in puppy love. Her and Natsu had pretended to be a family, raising Happy as if he was their very own child. So much time had passed since then. They had both changed so much. She let out a sigh.

She still hadn't resolved the issues that were clearly there between her and Natsu. And her and Lucy. It was an awkward love triangle and she didn't know how to deal with it. Before Natsu had left to fight the Earth dragon she had lost it, crying and thinking she would lose him forever. She had told him she loved him as more than a friend. But now, after time passed and she had more time to think, she was starting to think she had only felt that way in the moment. And it made her feel guilty. She had no idea how Natsu felt, he hadn't even attempted a discussion. But she knew Lucy currently hatred her. And she couldn't exactly blame her.

Levy had on a pair of red wind reading glasses and her face buried in a book, as usual. She pushed her light blue hair out of her face and made 'hmm's and 'mmmms' every once in awhile. Gajeel didn't even try to comprehend what Levy was reading about. He just sat and ate off of a plate that was stacked with various pieces of metal. Lisanna had always thought it was weird that he ate metal, but Natsu ate fire, so it wasn't out of the ordinary.

"You know, dragon slayers are weird." Lisanna said.

"What did you say?" Gajeel barked at her.

"I'm not saying it in a bad way. It's just funny how you each eat weird things. You eat metal, Natsu eats fire, Wendy air, Laxus lightning…..I have no idea what Ember eats." Lisanna laughed.

"Hey, me neither!" Wendy chirped.

"I'm going to have to ask about that. Now I'm curious." Gajeel smirked.

"What are you guys going on about?" Levy asked, looking up from her book.

"Nothing." Lisanna, Gajeel, and Wendy all said in unison.

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The Master and the other wizards finally showed their faces again. Makarov didn't go back to his seat on top of the bar, he walked up the stairs and to the balcony of the second floor, the rest following him. They all stood against the railing, looking down at the Fairy Tail wizards. They studied them, laughed at them, felt bad for them. None of them wanted to ruin anyones mood, but it had to be done. Important matters were at hand, and nothing could wait.

"Children, can I have your attention please." Makarov called out.

Everyone looked up to the balcony. If they had been seated with their back turned, they turned around. If they were somewhere out of view, they came into view. Fairy Tail was now on it's toes. They all knew something was up. They were all waiting. All hoping it wasn't really that bad. Something low brow and stupid.

"There's a new dark guild in Fiore. And while no one knows of their plans, they cannot be ignored. They have immense magic power, and they need to be stopped before it's too late to do so." Makarov announced.

Murmurs spread through the guild hall. Gray and Natsu gritted their teeth. Lucy and Juvia sighed heavily and looked down. Levy scooted closer to Gajeel, his warmth making her feel safe. Wendy and Romeo looked at each other from across the room. Lisanna for some reason, looked for Bickslow, they made eye contact. Elfman pulled Evergreen close, and Ember glanced at Laxus with a sigh. Freed and Cana rolled their eyes. Mira put her hand to her mouth in a dramatic display of shock.

"Who are they?" Gray called out.

"They are called Apocalypse Keyes. The main members are seven wizards that go by the title The Seven Deadly Sins." Makarov answered.

"Dark guilds have such weird themes. Element 4. Oracion Seis. The Children of Purgatory." Levy sighed.

"Lame." Gajeel huffed.

"So why don't we just go find them and beat them? Right now?" Natsu shouted with a raised fire engulfed fist.

"I'm game for that!" Gray said jumping out of his seat.

"Calm down guys, it's not that simple." Erza said and smiled down at her friends.

"Please listen carefully while I explain this. Each Sin's power is rooted in their soul, connecting to one of the Deadly Sins. It's what fuels their power, and what makes them so dangerous. Wrath, Sloth, Gluttony, Greed, Envy, Pride, and Lust." Makarov said.

"Those don't sound scary at all!" Gajeel yelled.

"Why would I be scared of a sloth?" Natsu shouted.

"Not an actual sloth Natsu…..It's….nevermind." Ember laughed and just shook her head.

"The only way to defeat each member, is for their opponent to embody one of the Seven Heavenly Virtues in their soul. The Virtue itself fuels their power, and gives them their strength. Each Sin has a corresponding Virtue that is meant to defeat it, to overcome it. So only seven wizards, each embodying one of the Virtues, can defeat these wizards." Makarov explained.

"So who are these seven wizards then?" Cana asked.

"We don't know yet." Erza sighed.

"What do you mean you don't know yet?" Laxus yelled up at his grandfather.

"Quiet child." Makarov snapped at him.

"We know what the Virtues are. Chastity, Diligence, Temperance, Charity, Patience, Kindness and Humility." Erza said.

"Uh…." Gajeel balked.

"I don't know half those words." Natsu said shaking his head.

"Chastity? It looks like Wendy and Romeo are your only options for that one Master!" Cana laughed hysterically. Romeo and Wendy blushed.

"It's not meant literally miss Alberona! Get your head out of the gutter and back on your neck!" Makarov yelled at her.

"If it isn't literal, then how will we ever know who holds these Virtues?" Ember asked.

"Well, every one of you holds at least some of them. But we need to find who it is that actually embodies the Virtue. It being their essence, their strength. And to do this, I'm sorry to tell you, but we are going to have to do a trial exam. It's the only way." Makarov sighed.

"Yes! We get to fight each other? I will beat you all!" Natsu cheered.

"No, this isn't a battle based on physical strength and magic power. Or fighting. It's on a different level." Erza explained.

"A pre-selected group of you will be tested at random. You won't know when the test is happening, but we will, and we will be judging. For example, say one day you are walking home and witness someone rob a store. The way you handle that situation will be judged, and you won't even know it. Those kinds of things." Makarov said.

"This is so stupid!" Natsu growled.

"I agree." Gajeel nodded.

"Oh suck it up! Babies." Cana chuckled.

"So, which of us are going to be being tested for however long?" Levy asked.

"Ember, Laxus, Cana, Levy, Gajeel, Freed, Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Gray, Lisanna, and MiraJane." Makarov listed.

"Really?" Mira gasped. She was not expecting her name to be called.

"Yes. Now, we have dumped a lot on you all for today. Go enjoy yourselves. This meeting is over." Makarov said, and with that he turned and walked away.

Now that business was over, Jellal and Erza went off and sat together so they could catch up. Meredy ran down the stairs and jumped into a hug with Juvia, the two of them getting into a long conversation. Cobra went to the bar and joined his sister and her friends. Most of the guild members were still confused about the situation. They didn't understand how they were supposed to be going through a trial if they wouldn't be fighting. But others got it, and it made them nervous and feel like they were walking on eggshells. One thing they all knew, is that things would get pretty interesting for awhile.


	2. Chapter 2-Chastity and Lust

The Fairy Tail wizards would be going through a trial of sorts. That's what Makarov had told them all yesterday. They would be tested without knowing it, to find out which seven wizards embodied each of the seven Heavenly Virtues. Those seven wizards would face the Seven Deadly Sins of the dark guild Apocalypse Keyes. No one knew who these wizards were. In fact, they couldn't even guess. The Virtues were diligence, charity, chastity, patience, kindness, temperance and humility. A decent amount of Fairy Tail didn't even know what those words meant.

The guild members that were set to be tested were MiraJane, Lisanna, Ember, Natsu, Gajeel, Levy, Laxus, Cana, Levy, Freed, Lucy, Erza, and Gray. Some of them, like Mira and Lisanna, had no idea why they were even in the running. Others, like Natsu and Laxus, couldn't care less and wanted to avoid these tests.

Natsu, Gray, Lucy, and Happy had gone out on a job specifically to avoid any testing. Gajeel, Laxus and Cana decided to take a trip out of town to visit Quatro Cerberus. Actually, Cana had decided to take the trip out of town, Gajeel and Laxus just saw it as an excuse to get away from Fairy Tail.

This left Mira, Lisanna, Ember, Levy, Erza and Freed at the guild hall. In a rare occurrence, they all sat together at a table. Even Mira wasn't behind the bar. And all of them were on their toes.

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Jellal, Cobra, Meredy and Makarov stood outside the guild hall in the warm Autumn sun. The Crime Sorciere wizards were at Fairy Tail on official business, they were going to help Master Makarov figure out which wizards would go on to battle the Seven Deadly Sins. But that battle was still far away, and the days to come were meant to test the Fairy Tail wizards. The four of them were actually excited. They planned on having some fun with it.

"Some of your children are choosing to avoid the guild in hopes of not being tested Makarov." Jellal laughed.

"Yes, I know. But they will find out the hard way." Makarov smiled.

"So how are we going to go about this?" Jellal asked.

"Well, Cobra, I would like you to go trail Natsu and his group. Test them as you will. Meredy, go to Quatro Cerberus after Cana, Gajeel and my good for nothing grandson. Jellal, you will stay with me here." Makarov said.

"Sounds good to me." Cobra smirked. Anything where he got to mess with Natsu's head sounded like fun to him.

"Hm, okay." Meredy nodded. Gajeel, Cana, and Laxus were not her choice of people to test.

Cobra and Meredy bid their farewells and took off their assigned directions. Jellal and Makarov entered the guild hall.

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"They are onto us, sir."

She stood in front of a man with a pale hooded cloak. The hood hid his face and any features, he was halfway hidden in shadows. The young woman ran her hand through her shoulder length choppy dark green hair, her green eyes troubled. The gold chains around her neck and waist jingled as she shifted nervously. She pulled down the hem of her short green dress.

"How do you know this, Avaria?" The cloaked man asked in a deep voice.

"I was doing as you told me. Watching them, and I listened. Not only are they onto us, but they have figured out how to fight us. Well, me and the six others. They are putting their own guild through a set of tests to find out which ones hold each of the Heavenly Virtues." Avaria, the green haired girl, explained.

Before the cloaked man could respond someone else entered the dark room. He had spiked fire red hair and brass goggles over his gray eyes, a large spike sticking out of each side of them. He wore a leather coat and cut off black shorts. One of his boots was folded down to his ankle so his guild emblem could be seen on his calf.

"Sir, I saw the salamander and the celestial wizard." The red headed young man said.

"And? Anything worth reporting?" The cloaked man asked impatiently.

"No. But sir, I'm ready to attack whenever you are! Lets do this!" the red head exploded. Smoke and flames erupted from his hands, lightning sparked on his skin.

"Calm down Ira, it is not yet time."

The redhead, Ira, calmed down. He clenched his teeth and balled his fists. Avaria crossed her arms over her chest and rolled her eyes at him. These two wizards were part of the Seven Deadly Sins. Ira, the holder of Wrath, and Avaria, the lady of Greed.

"Avaria, Ira, I need you to do me a favor. Send Luxuria out to Fairy Tail. Let us see if he can get us information." The mysterious man said.

"What?" Avaria gasped.

"What can that pink haired freak do that we can't?" Ira shouted.

"You would be surprised what Lust can do." The man chuckled and then sent Ira and Avaria out of his presence.

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Natsu, Happy, Lucy and Gray sat in a field and enjoyed the warmth of the sun. They ate packed lunches and relaxed. The job they had gone on was far too easy, and they had completed it quickly. Now they just had to kill time, a lot of time. None of them wanted to get back to Fairy Tail early. They wanted to remain as far away as possible, for as long as possible.

"You know, maybe the tests won't be so bad." Lucy said, picking the grass out of the ground.

"No. It's all bad. Everything about it." Gray said, chomping on a sandwich.

"Aye!" Happy agreed.

"I want nothing to do with it. Unless it's fighting, I don't care." Natsu grumbled.

"I guess." Lucy sighed.

Cobra watched the three wizards and the exceed from the edge of the field. He hid himself in the trees and stood against the wind so his scent wouldn't read Natsu's dragon slayer nose. A sly smile crept across his face. The gears in his head were already moving and creating ideas.

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Cana burst into a bar called Skinny Puppy that was right down the street from Quatro Cerberus's guild hall. Upon her entrance a bunch of rough looking wizards raised their mugs and glasses into the air and chanted her name. She raised her fist in the air and chanted back to them. Baccus was seated at the bar, and Cana went over and took a seat next to him. Laxus and Gajeel shuffled over to the bar as well and ordered drinks, they didn't care to socialize.

"Cana! Wonderful to see you again so soon." Baccus winked, he was already tipsy and smelled as strongly of alcohol as a brewery.

"It's always wonderful to see me." Cana said and winked back.

Gajeel and Laxus glanced at each other and rolled their eyes. The bartender put mugs down in front of them and they grabbed them at the same time, and started chugging. They didn't know what was worse, being at Fairy Tail and worrying about a stupid test, or being at a bar surrounded by the idiots of Quatro Cerberus.

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Meredy walked along the trail at a quick but steady pace. She wasn't in a rush to get to Quatro Cerberus, she didn't even have any ideas of what to do to the Fairy Tail wizards in order to test them. She knew which virtue she was to be testing for, but not exactly how to test for it. She let out a sigh.

"Nice hair."

Meredy stopped walking. The voice came from behind her. It was smooth like honey, but male. She turned around and on the trail behind her was a tall and slender young man, his hair the same pink shade as hers but made up of coiled curls tied up in a high ponytail that went down his back. His eyes were a deep pink and she felt weak looking into them. He wore a perfectly tailored black suit, with a red rose in his lapel.

"Who are you?" Meredy asked, her hands on her hips.

"Don't worry about who I am. I just wanted to compliment your hair." He smiled charmingly.

"Well, thanks. Yours is nice as well." Meredy smiled.

"Clearly, we both have good taste."

"I would say so."

"So, why is someone as lovely as you traveling alone?"

"I'm perfectly capable of being on my own."

"I didn't say you weren't. Where are you headed?"

"None of your business."

"If I tell you my name, will you tell me?"

"Maybe."

"Well, my name is Luxuria. What's yours?"

"Meredy."

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Levy and Lisanna sat in silence. Not because they had nothing to talk about, but because Levy had her face buried in a book, as usual. Lisanna sighed of boredom. She didn't want to go over to her sisters table because Erza was over there, and Erza was friends with Lucy. So Lisanna assumed that meant Erza probably hated her too. Of course, she was wrong, but she didn't know this. So she sat in silence by herself, as Levy read through pages upon pages of text.

Mira sat with her face in her hands and her elbows resting on the table. She kept sighing. She didn't want to be part of this trial. She had been part of the S-class exam, but she was there testing the wizards, not being the one tested. Freed kept looking at her from under his pale green hair. He couldn't stop thinking about telling her about how he felt, but he knew now wasn't the time. Ember squeezed his forearm with her hand, as if she could read his mind. They smiled kindly at each other. Erza tapped her fingers on the table, thinking.

"We have some bad news."

They all looked up to the voice that rang through the silence of the guild hall. It was Makarov, and Jellal stood at his side. Erza and him glanced at each other, and she blushed when he smiled at her. Actually, she full on swooned.

"What is it Master?" Mira asked nervously.

"It turns out Natsu, Lucy, and Gray have been attacked by one of the Sins. Same with Cana, Gajeel, and Laxus on their way to Quatro Cerberus." Makarov lied.

The wizards all gasped. Erza instinctively put her hand on the hilt of her sword. Mira put her face in her hands. Freed and Ember stared slack jawed at their Master and Jellal. Lisanna bit her lip and closed her eyes letting out a sigh, and Levy finally looked up from her book.

"What did you just say?" Levy asked.

"I said, Natsu's group and Cana's group have been attacked by some of the Sins." Makarov repeated.

"Gajeel!" Levy gasped, jumping up from her seat.

"Sit down Levy." Jellal ordered.

"You are not my Master, Jellal. I have to go to Gajeel." Levy said, angry.

"No, it's too dangerous." Makarov shook his head.

"The Master is right, I'm afraid." Erza sighed.

"I'm really not scared of those jerks, but…..whatever you say." Freed sighed.

"Wait, what? No. We are just going to let Laxus and the others be attacked?" Ember shouted.

"I know this isn't easy for you guys. But I am sure they will be able to handle themselves." Makarov sighed.

"They might need help!" Ember growled.

"Well as of right now they don't. They are only being tracked." Jellal said.

"I thought you just said they had been attacked?" Lisanna asked confused.

"They….they have. Natsu's group. But Cana's group is only being trailed at the moment." Makarov stammered. He looked at Jellal nervously.

"Even better. I'm going to tell Gajeel. He needs to know this information." Levy said. She grabbed her book and walked towards the door.

"Levy, it's too dangerous!" Erza called out.

"I don't care. They need to know the truth. We can't just sit here and not do anything." Levy said, shaking her head.

Levy walked out of the guild hall doors, slamming them behind her. No one followed her. They didn't know what to do. Freed and Ember wanted badly to go defend Laxus, but they did not want to disobey their Master either. Lisanna, Mira, and Erza just didn't know what to do. Makarov looked at Jellal, and Jellal went after Levy.

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Cobra still hid in the shelter of the forest that bordered the field Natsu, Lucy, and Gray were relaxing in. He noticed that Lucy was coming towards the trees so he hid himself better. He had an idea, a wicked one. One that he probably shouldn't utilize, but he was going to do it anyway. If only to see Gray and Natsu's reaction.

Lucy walked into the trees, humming a tune under her breath. Cobra strategically placed a broken tree limb in her way so that when she walked by it the thin fabric of her shirt caught on it. She didn't notice and it ripped off of her. She let out a shocked cry and rushed to cover her breasts. Cobra struggled to keep in his laughter as Lucy looked around totally shocked and confused. She had totally forgotten that she had come into the trees to go to the bathroom away from the boys prying eyes. Now she was embarrassed at her lack of clothing.

She ran back to Gray and Natsu, making sure to hold her breasts tightly to her chest. The two young men looked at her in shock, and their faces instantly turned red. Her blonde hair hung in front of her flushed face, and her knees shook. Natsu and Gray just stared.

"Why are you staring? Stop staring? Give me one of your shirts!" Lucy pleaded.

"Well, I can't because I'm not wearing one. Sorry." Gray smirked.

"No way! I will not be like Gray and strip. Apparently you have been hanging out with him to long." Natsu laughed.

"Natsu, please! I'm…..I have no shirt! I don't know what happened!" Lucy thought she was going to cry.

"You can always just walk around like that." Gray chuckled.

"YOU PERVERT!" Lucy yelled.

Just then a pink haired girl in a maid outfit with shackles on her wirsts and ankles popped up out of thin air. She bowed at Lucy and handed her a folded shirt.

"Here's some clothes from the celestial spirit realm, princess. Do I need to be punished?" The pink haired girl said in a monotone voice.

"No! Thank you so much Virgo!" Lucy beamed and grabbed the shirt quickly. She turned around and put it on.

By the time she had put on the fancy celestial style shirt, Virgo was gone. Lucy smiled, happy that her spirits were able to come and help her in times of need without her having to use her own magic power to do it. She silently thanked Virgo again in her head, and then turned to Gray and Natsu angrily.

Cobra sat in the shelter of the forest, laughing so hard almost no sound came out of his mouth. Priceless, simply priceless. Those two fools will be lucky if they pass any of the tests that are put in front of their faces.

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Ira and Avaria sat on a set of rocks not far from where their guild had set up base. They looked out into the distance, watching the sun set. Ira was angry that his Master had sent Luxuria out on a recon mission. In his mind there was nothing Lust could accomplish that Wrath could not. Avaria wasn't angry, she just wanted to be sent out on the mission. She always wanted to be sent out on the missions, every single one of them. She didn't care if any of her guild mates ever left the guild.

"So stupid. Luxuria is such a wretch." Ira growled.

"Mmm. Yes." Avaria nodded.

"How do you think the other's are doing?" Ira asked, turning to the green haired girl.

"Who knows, and honestly, I don't give a shit." Avaria chuckled.

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Jellal dragged Levy into the Fairy Tail guild hall by her arm. She struggled against his pull but he was too strong. He gently placed her down in a seat at one of the tables and ordered her to stay there. She gave him the nastiest look anyone had ever seen Levy give before. Ember sympathized with the girl, because she knew how she felt. Laxus was out there, and possibly in danger. She wanted to help him as well, but she wasn't going to go against her own Master's orders to do it.

"That's enough." Makarov said in a loud voice.

"Why are you being so rough Master?" Erza asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, the test is over." Makarov said, a huge grin on his face.

"WHAT?" All the wizards shouted.

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The man in the suit walked closer to Meredy. He stopped only when he was close enough to her that she could feel his body heat, and his breath. She didn't move away, she felt as if she couldn't. She wasn't able to pull her eyes away from his stare. His face was so smooth, so handsome. Those deep pink eyes staring right into her soul. She felt as if she could melt into a puddle of mush right at his feet.

"Meredy, what a beautiful name. So, Meredy, where are you going?" He asked her again.

"I was just going to find some of my friends." Meredy answered.

"For what purpose?"

"Uh….because…"

Meredy struggled to not tell this man what she was doing. She didn't trust him, and she knew she shouldn't say anything but it was as if she had been charmed. But Meredy knew that charm magic lost it's effect as soon as the person being charmed knew of it. And since she felt that she was being charmed, the spell should have been broken, but it was not. She struggled against the magnetic pull of this man. It took everything in her to keep her lips sealed.

"I see you are resilient. No matter. You don't need to tell me anything." The man smirked.

"Who are you? And what do you want with me?" Meredy whimpered.

"I want nothing with you, dear. I'm done here." He said.

"What?" Meredy gasped. All of a sudden she felt free of his grasp. She didn't feel like melting and she felt like herself again.

The man with the pink curly hair and classy suit smiled once more at her, but this time she could see the malice in his eyes. It all clicked in her head in that moment. She brought her hand to her mouth and gasped. She had just come face to face with Lust himself. And she had almost fallen into his trap, but in the end she was strong enough to resist.

"Oh, and the name is Luxuria. I am sure we will meet again soon, Meredy." And with that he disappeared.

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Cana, Gajeel, and Laxus stumbled into the guild hall, all of them drunk. They found the closest seats to the door and took them. Cana slammed her head down on the table, and Gajeel almost fell backwards since there was no backrest on the benches. Laxus almost slipped onto the floor. Levy ran to Gajeel and supported him so he was sitting straight up. Ember just shook her head and laughed, Laxus wasn't a baby, and she refused to treat him like one.

Natsu, Gray, Happy, and Lucy had returned an hour before. Lucy was in a sour mood and not talking to Gray and Natsu, but the boys kept looking at her and making jokes and laughing with each other. Rare, since they were usually fighting instead of joking with one another.

Meredy and Cobra came in together. Meredy had a look of anger and defeat on her face, and she walked to Jellal and Makarov with her head down. Cobra followed behind her, but he had a sly look on his face, as if he was cracking up with laughter on the inside. He looked at Lucy and smiled at her. Her blood felt as if it was boiling when he did that, because now she knew that he was the cause for her embarrassment earlier that day.

Jellal, Makarov, Cobra, and Meredy discussed something in low voices for a few minutes before turned their attention to the wizards of Fairy Tail. They didn't have to do anything to catch their attention, since they already had it after the events of the day.

"Well, congratulations. The first test has been completed." Makarov smiled.

"R-really?" Mira stammered.

"What even was the test?" Freed asked.

"It was for Chastity." Jellal answered.

"Chastity? I don't get it. Makes no sense." Natsu said shaking his head.

"Well it wouldn't to you Natsu. You, Gray, and Lucy failed this one. The way you all acted in that situation in the field didn't earn you any points. Virgo would have passed though, if she had been a contestant." Cobra laughed.

"T-that was a test?" Lucy stammered.

"Oh! You are a jerk!" Gray shouted.

"Not fair!" Natsu growled.

"Not my fault the two of you are immature perverts and Lucy isn't modest enough to figure it out on her own. Anyways…." Cobra shrugged.

"Gajeel, Laxus, and Cana didn't get to be tested. But let us be honest for a second. Not a damn one of them would have passed this test to begin with." Makarov laughed.

"Screw you old man!" Laxus slurred. Cana and Gajeel just raised a hand in agreement, to drunk to respond.

"So….did anyone pass?" Lisanna asked.

"Yes. Levy. You embody the Virtue of Chastity. At your core. Knowledge, wisdom, and honesty. Be proud my girl. You did well." Makarov smiled.

"Seriously? I….wow." Levy was in shock.

"What Sin does that put her against?" Ember asked.

"Lust." Jellal answered.

"Which brings me to this. I ran into Lust today. His name is Luxuria, and his charm magic is not the same as any other charm magic. The spell doesn't break even if you know you are being charmed. He didn't attack me, but he did try to find out information. I didn't give him any, because my willpower was on my side. But I have a feeling he wasn't being completely serious either." Meredy explained.

"You actually met one of them?" Mira gasped.

"Yes. And it was intimidating, and even I was scared. Levy, this guy isn't a joke. He uses extremely powerful charm magic, but so far that is all I know. You are the key to his defeat. So I suggest you prepare in the time you have." Meredy said, turning to Levy.

"Of course." Levy nodded, but she was extremely nervous.

"Well, that's that. Have a good night children." Makarov said with a wave, and he left the guild hall for the night.

One wizard had passed a test. Levy McGarden, a solid script wizard. She was the embodiment of Chastity. Her knowledge, wisdom, and honesty her biggest assets. These would be what would help her battle and defeat Lust. She just had to figure out how to do it. But the rest of them weren't out of the woods, and now they knew that leaving Fairy Tail didn't necessarily mean they would be exempt from tests. But, since Laxus, Cana, and Gajeel got out of this one, it gave the others hope that they could get out of tests as well.

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"You wanted to see me Mistress?"

The petite girl stood in front of a shadowed woman. The girl had boy cut short pale blonde hair that fell over her blue eyes. She wore a sweater that was so baggy it almost swallowed her, and short shorts with dirty sneakers. The woman in the shadows was hard to see. All that could be seen was the lights reflection off the silver crown on her head, and the emerald and ruby jewels that adorned it.

"Yes, Acedia. You have been doing nothing to help in the efforts of finding out information about Fairy Tail." The shadowed woman said.

"I-I know. I apologize." Acedia stuttered.

"Don't apologize. Don't be weak. You are stronger than that, child. Go forth Sloth, and fetch me your brother." The mysterious woman said in a stern voice.

"But….You know Gula, he goes overboard." Acedia said quietly.

"Of course he does. That is the curse of the Glutton. That's what I need right now. Also, get me Invidia, her Envy may be useful." the woman cackled.

"What about Bris?" Acedia asked.

"Oh, Bris. His Pride makes him almost useless most of the time. I will save him for a later date. Now go." the woman ordered.

Acedia pulled the oversized sleeves of her sweater over her hands with a nod, and she exited her Mistresses chambers to find her brother Gula, and Invidia. Gluttony and Envy, respectfully.


	3. Chapter 3-Temperance and Gluttony

Levy was shocked. She was nervous. She wasn't excited.

The day before she had found out that she had passed the Chastity test, which meant she would be going head to head with Lust of Apocalypse Keyes at some point. Levy knew she was a strong wizard and she had faith in her powers, but she didn't know if she was strong enough to battle one on one with someone from a powerful dark guild. Especially a guild her or anyone didn't know very much about.

She was taking all the time she had between now and then to research The Seven Deadly sins and The Seven Heavenly Virtues. The more information she could cram in her head, the better. She was also going to study up on The Four Horsemen, just for good measure, even though she didn't believe she would be anywhere near them. At least she hoped not. These wizards had based their guild and their names around religious ideals, so there was plenty of information on them, just not the wizards themselves. But anything helped.

She laid on her bed on her stomach, her red wind reading glasses on her face so she could read faster. Gajeel laid next to her on his back with his arms crossed behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He didn't want to participate in any tests, but he wouldn't mind fighting. But the fact that Levy had passed one of the tests made him nervous. He worried about her. It wasn't because he thought she was weak, it was because he cared.

"How did you pass a chastity test anyways?" Gajeel grunted.

"You know it's not literal Gajeel. Don't be a pervert." Levy giggled.

"I just don't get it." He murmured.

"Chastity isn't just about purity. It's also about knowledge, wisdom, and honesty." Levy explained.

"Yeah. I guess you do have almost everyone beat when it comes to knowledge. All you do is read." Gajeel sighed.

"Is that a problem?" She looked over her shoulder at him with a cute smile.

He smiled back at her slyly. He knew the look in her eyes, he had seen it before. It had been there the first night they officially spent together. It was the Levy she hid from the world. Everyone except for him. He let out one of his signature "Geehee"s and crawled across the bed towards her, like a metal studded lion. Then he pounced. Her giggles echoed in her room.

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"It seems since we tested them yesterday they have let their guard down." Jellal said.

Makarov nodded at him from across the large mahogany desk. Jellal, Cobra, and Meredy sat next to each other across from Master Makarov. The four of them were coming up with plans for the next test they would put the selected Fairy Tail wizards through. The first test was dumb luck. Jellal and Makarov didn't have a solid plan, and they were lucky their plan even worked out. Meredy going off in pursuit of Cana, Laxus and Gajeel proved to not be a good idea. She had personally run into one of the Seven Sins, Lust to be specific. Although now they had some information, and at least one face to put to a name, it could have been bad. Thankfully it wasn't. Cobra had used going after Gray, Lucy, and Natsu as an excuse to mess with the younger wizards, and of course he enjoyed it while they failed.

In the end, Levy passing made sense to all of them. She was one of the most intelligent wizards in the guild. Her knowledge and wisdom of things giving her a large upper hand in many areas of life. Her honesty also proved admirable, when she refused the orders of her Master to go tell Gajeel the truth that someone of Apocalypse Keyes was tracking him, even when the other members followed orders. Of course at the time Makarov and Jellal had no idea that someone was actually tracking them. But it was Meredy who ended up having the run in with him.

"We need to plan better this time. And having to track down wizards who are trying to avoid the situation does not help." Jellal sighed.

"I agree with you Jellal. But these kids are not easily leashed." Makarov smirked.

"No, they are all pains in the asses." Cobra laughed.

"Yes, I agree." Meredy giggled.

"No matter. We are all capable adults here. Let's get down to it." Makarov said. The Crime Sorciere wizards nodded in agreement.

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Lucy walked out of her bathroom, a towel wrapped around her body and also her wet hair. She had just taken a long and relaxing bath. She had decided it was best to relax and not let herself worry about things so much. Whether it be the Virtue Trial or her feelings for Natsu. The stress was getting to her too much. She needed to ease up a little, and a bath was the perfect way to do it. But her relaxation didn't last very long.

When she had gone into the bath, she had been alone, with no one but herself to talk to. Now, dressed in nothing but a towel, she entered her room to guests. Erza and Gray sat at her table, while Happy and Natsu sat on her bed. Her face turned red with frustration, she really needed to have a talk with Mira about handing out her house key!

"WHY ARE YOU ALL HERE?" Lucy shouted.

"Finally, took you long enough." Gray huffed.

"GET OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Lucy screeched, her hands balled into fists.

"Relax Lucy!" Natsu said with a huge smile

"Aye!" Happy chanted.

"How am I supposed to relax when I can't even come out of the bath without people being in my room?" Lucy said through grinding teeth. She took in a deep breath, closed her eyes, and let the breath out. She untensed her shoulders. Easy Lucy, she thought, you should be used to this.

She walked over to her dresser and got out some clothes and then disappeared into the bathroom. When she came out she was fully dressed in a pair of khaki shorts and a baggy dark blue sweater, her celestial keys and whip hooked to a belt around her waist. She sat next to Erza at the table, Erza smiling at her.

"So what do you think of Levy passing the first test?" Erza asked her.

"It fits her. She really does hold more knowledge than the rest of us." Lucy smiled.

"You got that right." Gray agreed.

"I don't care for any of these tests. Not if there is no fighting involved." Natsu smiled, his hands behind his head.

"Why is it always about fighting with you?" Lucy sighed.

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"Mistress, you sent for us."

The tall muscular man stood in the dark room, a black cloak with his red guild emblem printed on the back of it. He was enormous and towered over the raven haired woman that stood next to him, even though she was tall as well. His hair was black as night too, but most of his head was bald, except for a full and long ponytail that started at the top of his head and ended in the middle of his back. The woman next to him had hair just as long and dark, and she was dressed in a green turtleneck and white pants, with black boots that came up to her thigh. The mans eyes were so black they matched the room around them, the woman's eyes were so bright green they almost emitted light.

"Yes. I need the both of you." The mysterious woman in the white cape said. Her face remained hidden in the shadows,

"That is what my sister told us." The man nodded.

"Well, at least she was good for something." The shadowed woman laughed.

"Don't underestimate Acedia." The large man growled. He got particularly defensive of his younger sister.

"Oh Gula, calm down. I was only joking. But Sloth is of no use to me at this moment. I need you, Gluttony. Oh, and of course, my lovely Invidia, so full of Envy." She snickered.

"What do you need us to do?" The dark haired woman, Invidia of Envy, asked.

"Why send us out now? I thought the others were taking care of it?" Gula, the large man, said.

"Well, Avaria and Ira didn't get much done. And Luxuria tried, but got no information. All we know is that these wizards of Fairy Tail are doing some sort of stupid test to find out which of them embodies the Seven Heavenly Virtues." The woman sneered, her voice hissing like a snake.

"Anything you need Mistress, we will do it." Gula said, nodding at her.

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Ember was feeling tipsy. She had been drinking with Cana for most of the day, and she didn't have the same capacity for alcohol. Her face was flush from the buzz she felt, but ultimately she was in a good mood.

"Mira, one more." Ember said, holding her mug in the air.

Mira looked at her friend with judging eyes and grabbed the mug. She filled it, much to her chagrin, and handed it back to Ember. The dragon slayer started to guzzle it down. Mira leaned on the bar and looked at Ember curiously. Ember didn't drink much, and Mira wondered why she was drinking so much now.

"Ember, is something wrong?" Mira asked sweetly.

"Nooooo, what would be wrong?" Ember said with a drunken smile.

"She's obviously lying." Cana rolled her eyes.

"Shut up Cana, no one asked you anything!" Ember snapped.

"Ember, if something is wrong, you can tell us." Mira said, grabbing her friends hand.

"Yeah, if you can tell Freed, you can tell us!" Cana barked.

"HE SAID SOMETHING?" Ember freaked out.

"No. He wouldn't spill shit." Cana sighed.

Ember let out a relieved sigh. She had gone to Freed with her concerns because she knew she could trust him. He was incredibly loyal to his friends, and would never go behind their back. She trusted Mira and Cana as well, also Evergreen, them being her closest girl friends, but when it came down to it, she didn't want to talk about it. Going to Freed was an impulse decision, and now she wished she hadn't. Her business was her own.

"Ember, please talk to us. Maybe we can help." Mira said. Her smile was so reassuring, so sweet. Ember could feel her guard come down just at the site of it.

"Well, okay. Lately, I…." Ember started but was abruptly cut off.

Freed, Bickslow, and Laxus made a grand entrance into the guild hall. They came right over to the girls at the bar and took a seat. Cana slammed her fist on the bar. She had wanted to know what was bothering Ember, it had been driving her nuts all day. Now she would never know, because the guys had to show up and ruin it. Mira sighed and went to grab the guys their usual drinks.

"Good afternoon ladies." Freed said politely as Mira handed him a mug.

"I'm ready to get out and work, man. I've been sitting around too long." Bickslow croaked.

"Then why are you sitting here and drinking?" Cana snickered. Bickslow ignored her.

"Laxus." Ember said, smiling at Laxus as he sat down next to her. He smiled back and put his arm around her shoulders, pulling her close and kissing her forehead. Then he let her go.

Mira sensed tension, and she didn't know where it was coming from at first. Then she pinpointed it. Something was going on between Ember and Laxus. They were trying to play it cool but she could see right through their act. Mira looked at Freed sweetly, leaning forward and close to his face. His face turned red and he turned his eyes to look away from her.

"Freed, can I speak with you for a minute? In private?" Mira chirped.

"Uh….Uh...Of course Mira." Freed stammered.

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Levy was on her way to Lucy's, Gajeel had gone home. She wanted to sit down with her best girl friend and talk about everything. She was sick of reading. Her head hurt from all the information she was cramming in there so fast. At least it was a nice day out. The sun made it just warm enough that the leggings under her skirt was enough to keep her legs warm. But it was chilly enough for the orange sweater she had on. She breathed in the crisp Autumn air and enjoyed the magic of the fallen leaves dancing in the wind along the pavement.

"Levy McGarden?" A woman's voice, coy and deep came from behind her.

Levy turned around. Two people stood on the pavement a few feet behind her. One was an enormous and large muscled man with a long black ponytail and matching black eyes. The other was a tall curvy woman, with long raven hair and eyes so green they stood out even in the sunlight. They made Levy nervous, she had never seen them before.

"Yes? Can I help you with something?" She smiled nervously.

"I hear you are the smartest girl around these parts." The woman smiled.

"That's an admirable feat." The man said. He came closer.

Levy had the urge to run, but she was scared that if she ran they would catch up to her and get her as her back was turned. But at the same time she didn't want to use any magic incase these people were just simple civilians that had heard of her through word of mouth. She couldn't lock down on any specific feelings.

The man got really close to her and touched his hand to her shoulder. She jumped away from him nervously, but he just smiled at her. He backed off with his hands raised, as if he sensed her discomfort and didn't want to startle her any further. Levy pulled the sleeves of her sweater down over her hands. Her eyes met the bright green irises of the black haired woman, and she suddenly felt like she was swimming in an ocean of sorrow.

"No need to panic. I wasn't going to harm you." The man said calmly.

"No of course not." The woman smirked.

"Who are you?" Levy asked as she began to shake. She couldn't move, the sadness was so heavy. Tears began to spill down her face in torrents. Her lip quivered.

"That's on a need to know basis, and you don't need to know." The woman laughed. "If I can't have your intelligence, at least I can make you sad."

Levy's eyes grew wide as the woman levitated off the ground. She pointed a long nailed finger at Levy, and the sadness got heavier. It was almost unbearable. It felt as if her heart was breaking in her chest. She grabbed at her chest with her hands and cried out for help, her face so wet with tears it glimmered in the afternoon sun. The woman laughed. The man held his palm out towards Levy, and began to cast a spell. She knew the spell. It was hers.

"Solid script, FIRE!" The man shouted.

Levy watched as the word Fire came at her engulfed in red and orange flames. She could feel the heat getting closer as if it was all happening in slow motion. She still could not move due to the unfathomable sadness that consumed her. The solid script of fire hit her and sent her flying backwards. Her clothes singed and she could feel the skin underneath burning. She let out a pain filled scream before she hit the pavement with a heavy hit and tumbled. As she tumbled she realized what had just happened. She had just been attacked by Gluttony and Envy. She took one last look at the wizards that attacked her, and then everything went black.

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Mira closed the door to the storage room behind her and Freed. She could sense how nervous he was. His fear was basically coming off of him in a cloud. Mira kind of felt bad, but at the same time she wanted to know what was going on with her friends. She wanted to help Ember, not sit by and watch her suffer. And if making Freed talk was all she had to do, then she was going to do it.

"Freed, I understand there is something Ember told you recently." Mira said sweetly.

"What are you talking about?" Freed asked. He stayed calm and collected. His confidence didn't waver.

Mira walked slowly towards him until she was almost against him, and he was against the wall. His face turned so red that it could have been it's own new color. His eyes darted around the room, trying to find something else to focus on.

"Freed. Something is bothering Ember. She is one of my best friends. I want to help her. Please, I won't say anything to anyone." Mira pouted.

"Mira, I don't know what you are talking about." Freed said shaking his head.

Of course, he did know what she was talking about. Ember had come to him in confidence, as a friend, because she trusted him. He liked Mira, a lot, but if she thought he would turn his back on his friend so easily, she didn't know him very well at all. He prided himself on the honor he devoted to his friendships. He would remain strong. He wouldn't give into her, no matter what she said, or how cute she looked. He just wouldn't!

"Please, Freed. I just want to help her!" Mira chirped. Her face looked sad.

"Seriously Mira. I don't know what you are talking about."

Now Mira was getting angry. Freed was looking her in the eye and lying straight to her face. She didn't like disrespect, not towards her, and not towards her friends. In her mind, Freed holding back this information from her was hindering Ember from getting help and comfort from a friend who could actually help her. She began to get defensive. She opened the gate to her magic power and let the purple aura surround her, sucking Freed in with it. His eyes grew wide and he let out a gasp.

Would Mira really transform into Satan Soul just to get information from him? For a second he thought she really would. Mira cared deeply about those who were close to her, and Ember was one of her closest and dearest friends. If she believed Freed was lying to her, he knew that yes, she probably would use Satan Soul against him as a tool. But he had seen this side of Mira, and although it intimidated him, it wasn't enough at this moment to get him to break his honor.

"Are you absolutely sure that you don't know what I am talking about?" Mira asked him, a mischievous smile crawling across her face.

"Precisely." Freed nodded.

Mira let out a war cry. She pinned him to the wall with one hand around his neck. It was no longer a normal human hand, but a clawed demonic one. Her white hair floated towards the ceiling, her lips the color of blood. A crack in her skin went over one of her eyes, and large demon wings and a scaled tail were at her back, almost taking up the entire storage room. Freed looked at her, begging her with his eyes to not go any further.

"Mira, this is ridiculous!" Freed shouted.

"You will not keep me from helping a friend, Freed!" Mira shouted back.

"Do whatever you want Mira! I will not dishonor her! I will not turn my back on her! And I will not hurt you!" Freed yelled. He could feel the claws tighten around his neck.

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Erza, Lucy, Gray and Natsu walked out of Lucy's apartment building, Happy flying above them. They had been there all day and wanted to go down to the guild hall and see if there was anything going on. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky looked like a watercolor painting of oranges pinks and purples. There was a significant chill in the air now that the sun was going to sleep behind the horizon, and it made goosebumps erupt on all their flesh.

"Hey, what is that over there?" Gray said, pointing a ways down the road.

The rest of them turned to look. They squinted their eyes as if it would make them see better, but all they could make out was a lump in the middle of the street. Gray started to walk closer, and when he got close enough for his eyes to make out details he broke into a run. He dropped to his knees next to the lump in the road and called back to his friends.

"YOU GUYS, IT'S LEVY!" Gray yelled.

They all broke into a run. Lucy and Erza dropped to the ground around Levy's body. Her close were burnt and black, and she had burn blisters on her skin. There were bruises and bloody scratches from the road on her arms and in the areas that her leggings had ripped. Almost nothing was left of her orange sweater, and both her shoes were missing. Her blue hair was singed in places and was tangled in a heap on her head. Erza checked to see if she was breathing.

"She's still breathing. We have to get her to the guild. Now!" Erza said in a calm voice, but inside she was panicking.

"Levy? Levy!" Lucy cried. Tears erupted from her eyes at the site of her friend.

"Natsu, go get Gajeel!" Gray ordered. Natsu nodded and him and Happy took off in the direction of Gajeel's place at top speed.

"I'll carry her." Gray said.

Erza and Lucy stood up, Erza putting a comforting arm around Lucy. Gray picked Levy gently off the ground and held her limp body close to his own. He took off toward the guild hall in a steady run, Erza and Lucy running behind him.

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The door to the storage room slammed open with such force that Mira dropped Freed to the ground. Her Satan Soul transformation dissipated and she immediately felt guilty and ashamed. Why had she gone so far for just a little bit of information? It wasn't like her. Freed touched his neck with his hands and took in a deep breath. Both of the wizards looked at the intruder with shame and panic in their eyes.

"That's enough! The both of you!"

It was Master Makarov. He stood in the door, short in stature but gigantic in presence. He could make himself as big as he wanted, but at the moment he kept his small natural state. The old man was menacing when he was angry, and Freed and Mira both cowered at his energy. They hung their heads.

"Out! Now!" Makarov yelled.

He held the door opened. Mira looked down at Freed and held out her hand to help him up. He hesitated, but then he took it. He brushed off his red jacket and adjusted his pale green hair. Mira didn't lift her head, she remained looking at the ground. The two young wizards shuffled past their angry master, and he shut the door to the storage room behind them.

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"HELP!"

Ember and Laxus turned to the entrance of the guild hall. The site they saw froze them in their place. Gray was standing there, trying to catch his breath, a battered and burnt Levy in his arms. Lucy and Erza stood at his sides, Lucy in a fit of tears. Laxus and Ember shook off their shock and jumped out of their seats.

"What happened?" Ember asked.

"We don't know. We found her like this in the road not far from Lucy's." Erza said.

"Here, give her to me Gray. Catch your breath. I will take her to the infirmary." Laxus said, letting Gray gently transfer Levy into his arms.

"What are we going to do?" Lucy cried,

"Go get Porlyusica. Now!" Laxus said sternly.

Erza, Gray, and Lucy didn't hesitate. They rushed out the door and disappeared. Ember watched after Laxus as he took Levy to the infirmary. She put her hands to her chest and closed her eyes. It felt as if her heart was going to burst out. She took slow deep breaths and tried to calm herself down. She was snapped out of it by a gentle hand on her arm. She opened her eyes to see Juvia standing close to her, sympathy in her bright blue eyes.

"Juvia?" Ember said in a low voice.

"Shhhh. Juvia will help you stay calm." Juvia smiled.

Ember nodded and closed her eyes again. This time, she could hear the sound of water. Ocean waves crashing on a rocky shore. The sound of a waterfall hitting the shallow pool beneath it, echoing through the trees of a forest. The calming rumble of a babbling stream. She was thankful for Juvia in that moment. Incredibly thankful.

Makarov entered the main area of the guild hall with Freed and Mira behind him. Cana rushed up to him, almost tripping. He looked at her confused, assuming she was just really drunk and was going to say something stupid.

"Master…..something has happened." Cana breathed.

"What is it miss Alberona?" Makarov asked.

"Levy was attacked, or something. Laxus brought her to the infirmary. Erza and the others went to get Porlyusica." Cana explained.

"WHAT?" Makarov shouted.

The power that emanated off of him made Cana, Freed, and Mira all stumble backwards. He had already been angry, and now he was worse. He said nothing more, but went off towards the infirmary. Cana looked at Freed and Mira.

"What happened with you two? You look like someone killed your cat." Cana said.

"Nothing." Mira and Freed both said.

Cana just looked at them, knowing that was an obvious lie. Mira went back to behind the bar, and Freed went and took a seat. Cana turned around and looked around the guild hall. She spotted Ember standing there, her eyes closed, and Juvia's hand on her arm. Juvia had a calm and serene look on her face, and looked like she was concentrating. Cana walked over to them.

"What's going on here?" Cana asked, her hands on her hips.

"Shhh. Juvia is helping Ember calm herself." Juvia said quietly.

"Oh give me a break! Ember, snap out of it!" Cana said, nudging Ember's shoulder.

Ember shook her head and opened her eyes. She looked around confused for a second, not knowing where she was, and then reality came back to her. She looked into Cana's violet eyes as she opened her mouth to say something, probably yell at Ember for something. But before she could say anything, all three of them were knocked onto the floor in a heap as Natsu and Gajeel burst through the doors like lumbering idiots.

"What the…." Cana gasped, rubbing her head.

"Get off of me!" Natsu shouted at Ember, trying to push her off of him.

"Juvia...is crushed." Juvia gasped, Gajeel's entire body crushing her.

They were all tangled in a heap on the floor, and all of them rushing at once to get up wasn't helping. Bickslow erupted into a fit of laughter at the group, pointing his finger at them, his tongue hanging out and his totem pole dolls laughing with him. Macao and Wakaba laughed from their corner as well, drinking and smoking. Mira and Freed decided to help them, as pathetic as they looked.

Mira grabbed Cana and helped her off the floor, brushing dirt off of her friends pants. Freed helped Ember off of Natsu quickly and then pulled Gajeel off of Juvia. He pretty much shoved Gajeel to the side and helped Juvia gently to her feet. She thanked him kindly and fixed her hat and dress.

"Where the hell is Levy dammit?" Gajeel growled.

"In the infirmary. Don't barge in like an animal." Freed said, giving Gajeel a serious look.

Gajeel shoved past Freed, causing the green haired wizard to stumble on his feet. Ember caught him so he could catch his balance. They all watched as Gajeel stomped his way to where Levy was, his iron dragon magic energy seeping from his pores in waves.

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"Gula and Invidia attacked one of the Fairy Tail wizards, sir." Ira said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Is that so?" The pale cloaked man asked.

"I talked to Acedia. She said her brother absorbed the wizards power and attacked her with it, while that envious bitch Invidia made her feel sad or something." Avaria said, rolling her eyes and running her hands through her choppy green hair.

"That sounds fantastic! Way more than the two of you and Luxuria could do!" The man laughed, it echoed through the dark room.

"Hey now! That's not fair! We have done more than Acedia and Bris combined!" Ira shouted, raising a flaming fist. Smoke bellowed from it into the air, lightning crackling up his arm.

"Yeah, those two are worthless. Pride and Sloth. What useless power." Avaria sighed, shaking her head.

"Watch how you speak of your comrades, child." The mysterious man chided.

"I apologize, sir." Avaria nodded, bowing her head.

"They may become useful soon. Be patient." The man said calmly.

"I don't want to be patient! I want to fight!" Ira shouted.

"Calm down boy! Your time will come."

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Porlyusica had arrived to treat Levy and had been in the infirmary with her for a few hours. Gajeel remained at her side. Makarov was hidden away in his office with the members of Crime Sorciere, going over how this could have happened, and why. Ember, Laxus, Gray, Lucy, Erza, Cana, Mira, and Freed all sat at the bar. Everyone else had gone home to get some sleep.

Cana and Freed drank silently from their mugs, even Gray had been drinking some alcohol. Lucy had finally stopped crying, but was still in a quiet and saddened state. Erza was falling asleep sitting up, but she didn't want to leave yet. She wanted some news on Levy first. Ember sat with her hands clasped in her lap, looking down.

"Are you alright? You have been weird lately." Laxus said to Ember.

"I'm fine." Ember said quietly.

"No, you are not. But if you're not going to talk, then whatever." Laxus said with an attitude, and turned away from her.

"Well, there's not many of you left." Makarov said, entering the room. They all turned to him.

Jellal, Cobra, and Meredy all stood beside him, towering over the small old man. He had a sad yet serious expression on his face. A hint of guilt in his eyes. The remaining wizards looked at him, most of them extremely tired.

"Levy was obviously attacked, but until she wakes up we won't know any details. She probably won't wake up until sometime tomorrow, so you all should go home and get some rest." Makarov said calmly.

"No, we can wait." Ember sighed.

"Don't be ridiculous. Look at Erza, she's practically snoring!" Jellal said, pointing at Erza, who was nodding out.

"I-I am not!" Erza snapped awake, but her eyes got heavy again quickly.

"Well, anyways, I have to apologize to some of you before you leave." Makarov said with a heavy sigh.

"Master?" Mira chirped.

"About what gramps?" Laxus asked.

"Oh boy." Makarov murmured.

"Get on with it Makarov." Cobra said, closing his eyes with a sigh, preparing for what was to come next.

"Before anything, we are not proud of this. Please, we ask that you forgive us." Meredy said, not able to look anyone in the eyes.

"What is going on, now?" Cana asked confused.

"Ember, I am sorry. I used you as a pawn for a test. I….I deeply regret this, but these tests have to be given." Makarov said, hanging his head.

"What are you talking about?" Ember asked, she looked at Makarov with full attention.

"We came up with a plan to test for Temperance. The Virtue of self control, honor, and justice. We were all pretty convinced we knew who the wizard was for this specific virtue, so we came up with a detailed plan in order to prove it." Makarov explained.

"Meaning, what I told you was a lie. It was part of the test." Cobra sighed heavily.

"WHAT?" Ember shouted. Her body started to shake in anger.

"Whoa, wait, what the hell did you tell her?" Laxus yelled.

"I told her that you were seen with another woman when you went out of town with Cana and Gajeel to Quatro Cerberus." Cobra said, ready to be attacked any second.

"So that's why you wouldn't tell me anything! You thought I was hiding something like that from you?" Cana gasped, looking at Ember.

Lightning erupted all over Laxus's skin, causing the hair on everyones arms and necks to stand on end. His power erupted from him with enough force to knock Cana off her bar stool because she wasn't prepared for it, a bolt of lightning came down over Cobra's head, but he was able to dodge it. A large burn mark marked the floor where he had been standing. Ember put her hand on Laxus's chest and grabbed his shirt in his hands. He looked down at her.

"Calm down! Please!" Jellal begged.

Ember stood up from her seat. Her eyes locked on Cobra, and they made eye contact. She walked over to him, the dragon slayer magic of Acnologia swirling off of her body in a bright blue aura, shadows reaching towards the sky in tendrils. No one moved, except for her. She came to a stop when she was right in front of her brother, never breaking eye contact. She could see the guilt in his eyes, the shame he felt for doing it, but at that moment she didn't care. He grabbed him by his throat. He had driven a wedge between her and Laxus, he had hurt her and made her believe that Laxus had betrayed her. She had ignored her friends thinking they knew of it and were betraying her as well. She had felt as if he had taken everything she worked for in this guild away from her. And it was all for a stupid test.

"Master!" Mira called out.

"Let it work itself out." Makarov sighed.

"How could you?" Ember stammered.

"I'm sorry. I was just doing what had to be done." Cobra said with a heavy heart.

"HAD to be done? Breaking my heart and making me feel betrayed by the people I love was necessary?" Ember growled, her power exploding around her.

"It wasn't his idea. It was mine." Jellal interrupted.

Ember turned to look at Jellal. Erza moved to the edge of her seat, every single one of her nerves on edge. She was awake now. All of them were awake now. Ember threw Cobra from her grip. He stumbled and caught his footing, rubbing his neck with his hand. She walked to Jellal and stopped in front of him. She studied his face. The red tattoo over his eye in an intricate design. His deep eyes, his blue hair. She gave him a fanged smile, and slapped him across his face so hard he fell onto the floor. Ember turned around and left the guild hall, the doors slamming behind her.

Erza got up and ran to Jellal, helping him off the floor and helping him dust himself off. Cana grinded her teeth at all of them, even her Master. Laxus cracked his knuckles. Freed and Mira exchanged a look, and in that look was an apology to each other. They knew now that they had been victims of the test as well.

"I deserved that. I really did. But, I didn't expect her to hit that hard." Jellal laughed, rubbing his now swollen face.

"You did deserve it." Erza agreed, but she smiled at him.

"I don't want any of you near me, or her. If any of you, and that includes you old man, go near her, you will freaking regret it." Laxus ordered, and with that he left the guild hall as well.

"I don't expect any of you to forgive me for awhile. But I hope eventually you can." Makarov said.

"Master, what you guys did. It was wrong." Mira whimpered.

"We know." Meredy sighed.

"Maybe the three of you should leave." Freed said, standing up from his seat. He shot the three Crime Sorciere wizards a look that made them all take a step back.

"Before you go Freed." Makarov started. Freed looked at his Master. " You passed. You embody Temperance. Self control, Honor, and Justice. Congradulations."

"Don't congratulate me on something that caused me and my friends pain." Freed said in a firm voice.


	4. Chapter 4-Charity and Greed

Ember sat in her bed alone. Well, to be fair her Hell Hound Nunu was curled up beside her, but Laxus was not. He had gone out of town by himself, to calm himself down after the events that happened at the Fairy Tail guild hall the night before. Her brother, Cobra, had told her that Laxus had been seen with another woman, all for the sake of the Virtues Trial. She had distanced herself from Laxus, and didn't trust her friends because of it. It felt as if part of her soul was shattered. And it had all been Jellal's idea.

But she forgave him, he just didn't know it yet. She had smacked him pretty hard, and that she believed he deserved, but she also understood where Jellal and the others were coming from. This trial was important, because the results were the only way to defeat the formidable enemy that they would have to go up against. The dark guild Apocalypse Keyes and their Seven Deadly Sins, and eventually, the Four Horsemen. Ember didn't even want to think about the Horsemen, the Sins were problem enough. Their appearance in Fiore had already caused a lot of tension in Fairy Tail.

There was a knock on the door. Ember sat up on the bed and called for them to come in. It was Freed and Evergreen. The two members of the Thunder God Legion looked at her with sympathy in their eyes. She mustered up a smile for them. They joined her on the bed, Evergreen wrapping her arms around Ember and Freed resting his hand on hers.

"Are you doing okay? Freed told me everything." Evergreen said.

"Yeah, I'm alright. Still kind of hurt, but I forgive them for it." Ember said with a smile.

"Seriously? You forgive them?" Evergreen gasped, looking at her friend in horror.

"Yes. I understand the pressure they are under. I just wish they could have come up with a different idea. It makes me worry what else they will do." Ember sighed.

"Mmm I agree." Freed nodded.

"At least you are out of the trial Freed. You came out victorious for temperance, which means you get to go against gluttony!" Evergreen cheered.

"Oh, yay!" Freed hooted sarcastically. "But yes, I am glad I am out of the mess that they are calling a trial."

"Oh Freed, I wanted to thank you. It means a lot to me that you didn't mention anything I had talked to you about, even when Mira went all She-Devil on you!" Ember laughed.

"I would never dishonor my friends Ember. You can always trust me." Freed smiled.

Ember leaned her head on Freed's shoulder. It felt nice to not be alone in her room. It felt nice to have people she could trust and call family. Fairy Tail really was an amazing guild, and she was glad to be a part of it.

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Gajeel sat at Levy's bedside. He had slept on and off throughout the night. Now that the sun was up, there was no chance of him falling back to sleep. He looked down at her scratched and bruised face, the burns already healing thanks to Porlyusica's magic, and also some of Wendy's sky dragon slayer healing magic. He just wanted her to wake up. Wanted to speak with her, look her in the eyes. He hated how soft he was when it came to Levy, but at the same time he knew she made him a better man.

"Gajeel, maybe you should go get something to eat." Porlyusica said calmly from behind him.

"No. I'm fine." Gajeel grunted.

As if his voice was the key to her health, Levy started to stir in the white sheeted bed. She made soft whimpers as her body moved, most likely from the pain. Most of her wounds were bandaged up, except for her face. Luckily her face had taken the least amount of damage and would heal without scars. Gajeel squeezed her hand and wouldn't take his eyes off of her, waiting for her to look at him. Her eyes opened slowly, and she turned her head to him, and she smiled. It wasn't a big smile because she was hurting, but the smile reached all the way to her eyes. Those big beautiful eyes. She squeezed his hand.

"Levy!" Gajeel said excitedly.

"Gajeel….I…" She croaked.

"Don't speak if it hurts too much child, we have plenty of time for you to talk. Right now, you need to rest." Porlyusica said, coming to her side to check her wounds.

"But…..I was attacked…" Levy said slowly.

"I know. And they won't get away with it!" Gajeel growled.

"It was…..Gluttony...and….Envy." Levy whispered, and then she started to doze off into sleep.

"You may want to bring that information to the Master, Gajeel." Porlyusica said sternly, looking at the metal studded dragon slayer.

"Yes." Gajeel nodded.

He stood up, not letting go of Levy's hand until the very last second. He leaned down and gave her a kiss on the forehead, and moved a strand of her blue hair out of her face. He took in her features one more time, bid Porlyusica a good day, and then left the room to find Master Makarov.

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Natsu and Happy waited outside of Lucy's building waiting for her. Neither of them understood what took girls so long to get ready. They watched as men on boats floated down the river in front of them, as citizens walked over the stone bridges, and children threw pebbles and coins into the water. The sun was high in the sky and the day was actually pretty warm for Autumn. Of course it wasn't warm for Natsu, he could stand ridiculous amounts of heat. If anything, he was kind of cold.

"Hey guys! Sorry I took so long!"

They turned around as Lucy ran down the front steps of her building. She had on a short white skirt with a brown belt holding her whip and celestial keys. Her black stockings came up to her thigh and her brown boots only to the middle of her calf. She wore a form fitting black turtle neck sweater that did nothing to hide the size of her boobs. Natsu's cheeks turned the same color as his rosey pink hair at the sight of her, but he pushed any impure thoughts out of his head.

"Jeez, what takes you so long to get ready?" He sighed.

"Beauty like this doesn't just happen, Natsu!" Lucy giggled, batting her eyelashes.

"It was probably because she couldn't find a pair of pants that fit." Happy chided.

"SHUT UP STUPID CAT!" Lucy shouted, her face turning red.

"Anyways, lets get going. We are supposed to meet Erza and Gray at Fairy Tail and go out on a job." Natsu said, starting to walk away. Happy flew above him and Lucy walked right behind him.

They strolled down the street in silence, taking in the fresh air and enjoying the warmth of the day. Lucy had a huge smile on her face. She had woken up in a spectacular mood that morning. She just knew that Levy was going to wake up today, and she couldn't wait to see her! They were not far from Fairy Tail when they walked past a patch of trees and Lucy stopped. She sensed something close by that made her uncomfortable, but it was also somewhat familiar.

"Natsu…." Lucy said.

Natsu and Happy stopped, and turned around, but before they could ask any questions something shot out of the trees and grabbed Lucy by her ankles. She fell to the ground with a scream and was being dragged across the pavement and into the trees at an incredible speed.

"LUCY!" Natsu and Happy shouted, running after her, trying to grab her hands.

"NATSU! HELP ME!" Lucy cried out. She was terrified, and had no idea what was happening.

Natsu kept running as Lucy was being dragged further and further away. Her clothes were catching on rocks and branches and she let out cries of pain as her body hit things it shouldn't. She was being dragged so fast that Natsu couldn't keep up, and couldn't tell what had grabbed her, all her knew was that it was red and tightly wrapped around her ankles. Lucy reached her arms out to him, stretching as much as she possibly could, but he still couldn't grab her.

"NATSU!" She screamed.

"LUCY I WILL GET YOU! HOLD ON!" He shouted. He tried running faster, but he still couldn't keep up.

Natsu tripped over something and went tumbling head over heels. Happy flew down to him to make sure he was alright, but by the time he got back to his feet Lucy was gone. They looked around frantically, calling out her name, but there was no answer. Natsu could feel every inch of his body burn with the heat of a dragon's fire. He let out a frustrated scream and ran towards Fairy Tail.

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"Brother, I hear that the girl you attacked is going to be alright." Acedia said. She sat on the ground, hugging her knees to her chin. Her short pale, almost white, hair fell over her tired looking blue eyes.

"Yes. It was not my intent to kill her. Not yet." Gula said. The gigantic man sat down next to his little sister. He looked like a giant next to her. His black cape alone could swallow her whole. He adjusted his long black ponytail and turned his black eyes to Acedia. "Something bothering you?"

"Kind of. No one likes me. They all think I am weak." Acedia sighed.

"We both know you are not weak. And obviously the Masters know you are not either, otherwise you wouldn't be here." Gula reassured her.

"No one cares for Sloth. I am just looked down upon." The small girl whimpered.

" Acedia, stop letting such nonsense get to you. You know what you are capable of. And besides, I'm here." Gula said, smiling at her warmly. She smiled back at him and leaned her small body against his immense size. The very presence of her older brother made her feel safe. It always had, every since they were children.

"Oh well isn't this precious." Invidia chuckled. The raven haired beauty walked over to join them, sitting down next to Gula.

"Hello Invidia." Acedia smiled at the older young woman.

"Hello Acedia. I couldn't help but over hear. I am sorry you feel that way. But there is simply nothing you have that I envy, darling." Invidia sighed.

"Yes. I understand." Acedia nodded.

"What the hell is this? Social hour?"

The three wizards turned to look at the newly joined voice. Standing over them was a well dressed young man, his oil black hair slicked back, his ice blue eyes piercing. A necklace with a mirror charm hung around his neck, and he had the chiseled jaw line of a model.

"Bris, what do you want?" Gula growled.

"Mistress wants to see us. Now." Bris, the man with the mirror said. He was of course, the seventh sin, pride.

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Ember, Evergreen and Freed were walking quietly to Fairy Tail when Natsu and Happy slammed right into them almost knocking them to the ground. Natsu almost tripped but Freed caught him by the back of his vest and helped him get his footing. The poor kid was practically out of breath and was in a total panic, but anger flared in his eyes.

"Natsu, what's wrong?" Ember asked concerned. Her and Natsu were really close friends, she saw him like a younger brother.

"Lucy…...she was kidnapped." Natsu breathed.

"You're shitting me? Why is this girl always getting kidnapped?" Evergreen snorted, rolling her eyes.

"What your mouth you stupid fairy!" Natsu growled, holding up a fist at Evergreen. She just sneered at him.

"Calm down. Do you know by who?" Freed asked.

"No! She was dragged by something by her ankles, all the way into the trees. I tripped and by the time I got up she was gone. It happened so fast!" Natsu explained.

"Aye! It pulled her like she weighed nothing!" Happy chirped.

"Well, the best thing to do is go find the Master, see what he says." Freed said calmly.

"THAT'S WHERE I WAS GOING! I HAVE TO FIND HER!" Natsu freaked.

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"So it was Gluttony and Envy that attacked Levy?" Jellal asked Gajeel, just making sure to get all the facts right.

"Yes, that's what she said before she passed out again." Gajeel nodded.

"No mention of the type of magic they used? Or how she even knew?" Meredy asked.

"Chances are she will say more when she is awake. And she probably knew because all she does is research and read. That's what she was doing before I left her house yesterday." Gajeel explained.

"Mmm. Very well. Due to this situation, everyone is going to have to be extra careful. We have no idea when another Sin may show up to cause a stir." Jellal said.

"Yes. Gajeel, please pass the news on to everyone to be careful. It is very important. I can't get to it this second, I am leaving it up to you." Master Makarov said. Gajeel nodded at his Master and left the office.

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Lucy opened her eyes. At some point she had passed out, whether it be from fear or pain, she couldn't recall. Her entire body hurt. Her muscles and joints ached and she could feel the burn of the scrapes she had all over her legs and stomach. She struggled to get up, but she managed it, and leaned against a tree. Her ankles felt like they were on fire, and there were burn marks that went right through her boots, the top half of them cut off. She recognized these wounds. But, there was no way it could be.

"Sorry….Blondie."

Lucy gasped. She knew that soft, yet creepy voice. She could feel the burning stare of those wide devilish eyes at her back. She turned her head slowly, her neck hurting the entire time she did it. She winced in pain. But there she was, sitting on the ground behind her. The young woman's bright red hair fell over her shoulders and surrounded her entire body on the ground. It looked like tendriled tree roots. The red dress she wore was long, but revealing in the breast area.

"Flare…..but why?" Lucy stammered, her eyes wide in shock.

"Sssshhhhh…" she put her fingers to her crooked smile.

"Are you in Raven Tail again?" Lucy asked.

"Just don't move...I don't want to have to hurt you again." Flare smiled.

Lucy looked around her. Flare's red hair surrounded her, and she knew that if she tried to get up and run, that those strands of hair would wrap themselves around her entire body and begin to burn away at her clothes and skin. Lucy let out a defeated sigh. There was no way for her to escape. Then she had an idea. She went for the celestial keys on her belt, knowing that one of her spirits could help her, but they were missing. Flare dangled the keys at her, taunting her. Lucy put her face in her hands, there was no escape.

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Natsu burst through the guild halls door, fire erupting from his fists, his anger out of control. His pink hair spiked hair fell in front of his face drenched in sweat. Ember, Evergreen, and Freed came running up behind him, sweat droplets dotting their foreheads. Gajeel had just told everyone in the guild hall to be extra careful like the Master had told him, but seeing the way his guild mates just burst through Fairy Tail's doors made all his muscles tense up.

Erza, Gray and Juvia stood up at the site of Natsu's distress. They were also shocked that he was showing up with Evergreen and Freed. Not so much Ember, as they knew that the two dragon slayers were close friends. Lisanna, Bickslow, and Cana turned in their bar stools, curious looks on their faces. Mira stopped filling up mugs, a nervous look appearing on her face.

"Natsu? What's wrong?" Mira chirped.

"Lucy! She's been taken!" Natsu shouted at everyone.

"What do you mean she's been taken?" Gray gasped.

"Are you shittin' me?" Gajeel growled.

"Do you know by who?" Erza asked.

"No. She was grabbed by the ankles and dragged into the woods by something really fast. I lost her! We have to go save her!" Natsu freaked out.

"Of course! Let's go! Do you remember where this was?" Gray said, joining Natsu's side.

"Yeah." Natsu nodded.

"Then let's go." Gray smirked.

"You're not going anywhere!" Makarov shouted.

All the wizards looked at their Master. Silence spread throughout the guild hall, and the tension in the air was worse than ever. Jellal, Cobra and Meredy stood at his side as they usually did these days.

"What do you mean gramps? I have to go after Lucy!" Natsu growled.

"It could be the Sins. We can't risk it after what happened to Levy, not yet. We need to think this through." Makarov said.

"I'm not worried about any of those jerks!" Natsu said through gritted teeth.

"I know you are not, but it's dangerous." The Master sighed.

"Maybe we should come up with a strategy." Erza said calmly.

"NO! I will not! I don't care how dangerous it is! I don't care who these wizards are! I'm not worried about me! All I care about is getting Lucy back here safe!" Natsu shouted.

"If you go, I will have your back." Gray said, putting a hand on Natsu's shoulder.

"You are really going to disobey me, Natsu?" Makarov asked, a serious look on his face.

"For her, yes. I'm sorry gramps, but I can't let anything bad happen to her. I will do anything to get her back." Natsu said with a nod.

Makarov closed his eyes and hung his head. He made no more efforts to stop Natsu. Gray and Natsu exchanged glances, nodded at each other, and ran out of the guild hall. Everyone knew, that if anyone was going to get Lucy home to Fairy Tail, it was Natsu. He wouldn't stop until he had her safe.

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Laxus knew he was being followed. He had been traveling alone to clear his head, but he could sense their presence. He didn't know who it was, but he knew they were not a friend. He could smell them. They smelled like aged gold and the unique smell of paper money, with a slight scent of clover. They were close now, he knew, so he stopped walking.

"You can show yourself. I know you are there." He said.

"I see your dragon slayer nose does not betray you." A slick female voice said with a chuckle.

Laxus turned around, his arms crossed over his chest, his fur lined coat hanging off his shoulders. Standing close to him was a short young woman with dark green choppy hair, her eyes matching. Her dress was short and green and adorned with gold chains and jewels, just like her neck. Even her stockings had gold chains on them. She stood there with her arms crossed, looking at him with a sly smile.

"Who the hell are you?" Laxus growled at her.

"I'm sure you know. Or at least have a feeling. Hmm...I like that fur coat you have there. May I have it?" She asked coyly.

"What kind of game are you playing?"

"No games. I'm rather serious."

"I'm sure."

She circled him, like a cat moving in on it's prey. He never once took his eyes off of her. He wasn't going to wait for her to do anything, he wouldn't risk it. He sent a bolt of lightning right down on her, but she raised her hand to the sky and a green aura burst around her, repelling the attack. Laxus took a step back, balling his hands into fists.

"You repel magic attacks?" He grimaced.

"Hhm, it seems I do." She giggled.

Laxus let out a shout and launched himself at her, planning on using physical force instead of magic. She put both of her hands out in front of her and he dropped to the ground. He watched as his magic power left his body like yellow smoke, going towards the woman's hands as if they were calling his power to them. She let out an evil laugh. He struggled to get up, to do anything, but with every second he could feel more and more of his magic energy being drained, and with it his strength.

"I will take it! All of it!" The green haired woman laughed. Her laugh sent chills down Laxus's spine.

"What…..why…." Laxus struggled to even speak.

"This is a message. Deliver it to your guild. Stop with that stupid trial you are doing. It's useless." She said, her face darkening.

"Who are you?"

"You don't need to know my name. But just so you never forget this, you can remember me as Greed."

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"Well I really don't think there is any denying it now Master Makarov." Jellal said with a smile.

"No, I guess there is not." Makarov nodded with a smile.

Jellal and Makarov sat in the Master's office, alone this time. They had wanted to discuss some things between just the two of them this time. No distractions.

"So we are agreed then? Natsu Dragneel, the fire dragon slayer, is Charity?" Jellal asked.

"Yes, we are agreed. There is no doubt in my mind. If there is anyone who can defeat the embodiment of Greed, it's Natsu." Makarov nodded.

"Good." Jellal said, nodding back.


	5. Chapter 5-Diligence and Sloth

Natsu and Gray ran. They hadn't stopped running. Not all day, not all night. It was now morning again and the two wizards were exhausted. Their skin glistened with sweat and their hair was disheveled.

"I thought…..you said….you remembered." Gray breathed, trying to catch his breath.

"I do! I don't understand!" Natsu said angrily.

"Natsu, Gray, can you hear me?"

Natsu and Gray stopped running. They looked at each other, and then around them. There was no one else around. Natsu couldn't smell any one nearby. They knew they heard someone call out their names, but they could not for the life of them figure out where it came from.

"Who's there? Where are you?" Natsu called out.

"It's Warren, I'm using my telepathy." The voice laughed.

"Warren, of course!" Gray smirked.

"What is it? We don't have time for chit chat!" Natsu shouted into the air.

"No need to shout Natsu. I can hear you just fine. But you guys have to come back to Fairy Tail." Warren said.

"No way!" Gray growled.

"We have to find Lucy first!" Natsu shouted, still at the air.

"She's back guys. Lucy is back at Fairy Tail." Warren's voice said in their heads.

"This better not be a joke Warren!" Gray threatened.

"It's not. Come back guys. She's okay." Warren said, and you could hear the smile in his voice.

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Lucy sat on a bar stool in the Fairy Tail guild hall as Wendy used her sky dragon slayer healing powers to heal up the burns on her ankles, and the scrapes on her arms and stomach. They were minor wounds so it didn't take much of Wendy's magic to heal her up quickly. Everyone was looking at her, asking questions. The confusion was causing chaos. Flare had brought Lucy back to the guild hall first thing in the morning. She hadn't spoken to Lucy since the first time, she had remained silent. She sat next to her on another bar stool, looking at the ground.

"Are either of you going to explain?" Erza demanded.

"I can't explain anything! I don't even know what really happened." Lucy sighed.

"Hey guys, Natsu and Gray are on their way back. They were able to hear me." Warren said to everyone as he entered the room.

"That's good news." Erza nodded.

"The Master is also on his way, with Jellal, Cobra, and Meredy." Mira said from behind the bar.

"Well, if anything, one of you better have an explanation for the Master." Erza said, a smirk on her face.

Flare never looked at Erza, she just stared at the ground. Lucy looked at her with pity. She had no idea why Flare would kidnap her, and why she would bring her back only hours later. Granted, she had kept her overnight, but it still wasn't very long. Through all that had happened Lucy had totally forgotten that Levy had been attacked and was bedridden, and it made her feel like a bad friend. But no one would let her go see Levy at the moment, because she had her own wounds to be dealt with, and she had to be there for when the Master arrived. Also, Natsu and Gray. Lucy smiled at the thought of them going crazy looking for her. Her cheeks turned a light pink.

Lisanna sat at a table with Bickslow and Freed. Her and Bickslow had been hanging out a lot ever since they went on that one date while Natsu was missing. She wasn't sure if they were just close friends, or more than that. To her, it felt like more than friends, even though nothing had happened between the two of them. Or maybe it was just wishful thinking, because right now Bickslow paid no attention to her.

He had pulled off his metal helmet, his crazy royal blue hair pointing in three different directions. His wide cat like eyes looked at Flare, and didn't leave her. It was as if he was under a spell. Lisanna felt a pang of jealousy from this. She started to judge herself from it. Maybe if her hair was longer, or she wore more revealing tops. No, such thoughts were silly.

"Bickslow, are you alright?" Freed asked with a chuckle. He looked at Bickslow with sly eyes.

"I'm fine. That Flare girl. She's….." Bickslow trailed off.

"She was once a member of Raven Tail. Remember the battle between her and Lucy at the Grand Magic Games? She cheated!" Lisanna said, shoving Bickslow's shoulder.

"I remember." Bickslow nodded.

Lisanna looked at Freed and rolled her blue eyes. Freed just shrugged with a smirk.

Master Makarov entered the guild hall with the Crime Sorciere wizards at his flank. The guild members looked to him for answers. They were also shocked to see that none of them looked concerned at all. But none of them spoke a word until Natsu and Gray burst through the doors.

"LUCY!" They both yelled and ran to her.

They both attacked Lucy into a hug and she laughed. Then they noticed who was sitting beside her and darkness fell over their expressions.

"FLARE!?" Gray shouted.

"Don't tell me Raven Tail is screwing with us too!" Natsu growled.

"No." Makarov interrupted. Everyone turned their attention the their Master. "Thank you Flare. You did well."

"W-what?" Lucy stuttered.

"It was a test. We recruited Flare to help us. It was a success." Jellal explained.

"Wait just one minute!" Natsu shouted, getting fired up.

"Jellal?" Erza gasped.

"Let me explain. This was a test for Charity, the virtue of generosity and self sacrifice. We knew that Natsu embodied charity. He has shown time and time again that he will do anything to save his friends, even sacrifice himself. We just wanted to prove it for the sake of the trial. We can't just go around giving titles to everyone. It would defeat the purpose." Jellal explained further.

"So you had Flare kidnap Lucy just to make sure Natsu would go after her, even knowing it could have been one of the Sins and incredibly dangerous?" Erza asked.

"Precisely." Jellal nodded.

"Furthermore, there is another Virtue that we know we don't even have to test for. Diligence, the virtue of persistence and effort. Lucy has shown since the beginning that she holds this virtue at the very core of her soul. Even after the Phantom Lord incident, she still persisted. She got incredibly injured by Minerva in the Grand Magic Games and her faith never faltered. Lucy has shown nothing but effort in bettering herself, and Fairy Tail as a guild. Therefore, today we move forward knowing that Natsu as Charity will go on to fight Greed, and Lucy as diligence will go on to fight Sloth." Master Makarov continued.

"You injured Lucy for a test?" Gray asked angrily.

"She wasn't meant to be injured. But we knew that if she did get injured that they would be minor and that Wendy would be able to handle it." Makarov said.

"We understand that this trial has not been easy on anyone, and we apologize, but in the end it's what is necessary." Jellal nodded.

"Jellal….I…." Erza stammered. Her hands were balled into fists, her knuckles turning white.

"Erza?" Jellal gasped.

"Your ideas keep hurting my friends. I can't stand by and watch this." Erza cried, shaking her head furiously.

"Erza, we don't want to hurt anyone, We…" Jellal pleaded.

"No, don't. I don't care for any explanations. I've seen enough." Erza said quietly. She looked straight ahead, avoiding Jellal's saddened eyes, and left the guild hall.

Jellal sighed heavily. He didn't want to hurt anyone. He wanted to beat this dark guild so that the world wasn't in danger. So his friends wouldn't be in danger. The small damage done by these tests in this trial was just collateral damage. But the last person in the world he wanted mad at him was Erza. His heart ached. He cleared his throat, nodded at the others, and walked up the stairs to the second floor, disappearing from everyone's view. No one followed him.

"I hope all of you, my children, can forgive us." Makarov sighed.

"Of course. I understand." Lucy said with a shy smile. Natsu and Gray looked at her confused.

"I believe Flare has something for you." Makarov smiled.

Lucy turned to Flare, and the red head finally looked up. She looked at Lucy with a crooked smile and held her hand out to her. Lucy looked at it. In Flare's hand were two silver celestial keys. Her eyes lit up and she looked at Flare with excitement, grabbing the keys from her hand.

"New keys?" Lucy cheered.

"Orion the Hunter, and Pleiades, the Seven Sisters." Flare said quietly.

"Hades, what?" Natsu freaked.

"Pleiades! Not Hades!" Lucy laughed. She hadn't gotten any new keys in a long time, she was so excited. She couldn't wait to go show them to Levy when she was awake!

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Levy sat up in the bed and swung her legs over the side. Gajeel stood by her side, ready to help her if she needed it. She was so happy to wake up to his face. Porlyusica mentioned how he hadn't left her side. This filled her heart with joy, and laughter when she saw Gajeel's face turn red in embarrassment. She stood up, her legs wobbly at first, but then she was able to stand upright with no issues.

"Are you feeling alright? You sure you want to get out of bed?" Gajeel asked.

"I'm feeling great. Thank you so much Porlyusica. And I will make sure to thank Wendy when I see her as well." Levy chirped, a giant smile on her face.

"Of course child. Just take it easy, okay?" Porlyusica said, a serious look on her face. Levy nodded at her in acknowledgment.

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"You wanted to see us Mistress?" Invidia asked.

Bris had come to her, Gula, and Acedia, telling them that the Mistress demanded their presence. None of them knew what for, but they obeyed all orders diligently. They stood in a uniform line in front of the mysterious robed woman.

"Indeed. The time is growing close." The woman said.

"What do you mean?" Gula asked.

"Fairy Tail has not stopped their trial yet. Greed was sent out to deliver a message, but it has yet to be received. I am going to need to deliver another message it seems." The woman explained.

"Figured. Avaria doesn't care for anything but jewels." Invidia chuckled.

"Watch what you say about her Invidia, she may be able to kick your ass." Bris laughed, running a hand through his slick black hair.

"Silence. Bris and Acedia. It's your turn. I'm sure Pride and Sloth can deliver a message properly, don't you?" The woman said slyly.

"No doubt in my mind!" Bris winked.

"Y-yes Mistress. Of course." Acedia said shyly.

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Gajeel helped Levy down the stairs into the main guild hall. Their fellow guild members caught sight of them and gasped and cheered, hooting and hollering and calling out her name. When they reached the bottom of the steps, Levy was bombarded with hugs. She laughed and smiled, feeling like the attack had never happened. She wanted to forget it anyways, she had felt so weak, so sad. She never wanted to be in a position like that again.

"LEVY!" Lucy squealed and launched herself into Levy's arms. The two girls hugged each other tightly, giggling.

"Lucy! I heard you had some drama of your own!" Levy snickered.

"Yeah, but it's okay. I got two new keys!" Lucy cheered, holding out her hand so Levy could see them.

"How exciting! Is that Orion and Pleiades? I recognize the symbols." Levy said excitedly.

"Yes! I can't wait to summon them and make a contract!"

"Just make sure I am there when you do!"

Gajeel had to walk away. The giddiness of the girls was too much for him to handle. He went over to Makarov to tell him what Levy had told him about the attack. The Master listened to him carefully.

"So, one of them, Gluttony, copied her magic and attacked her with it? While the other wizard, Envy, made her feel so burdened with sadness that she couldn't even move?" Makarov asked, for confirmation.

"That's what she told me." Gajeel nodded.

"That's not just some simple magic. Being able to copy someones powers and use them is pretty serious. And emotion manipulation magic, that's almost unheard of." Meredy gasped.

"Maybe that's why this Virtue crap is so important. Without the corresponding Virtue, you don't even stand a chance." Gajeel grunted.

"Seems so." Cobra nodded.

Just then the guild doors burst open with enough force to make everyone jump. Ember stumbled in, her scythe at her back. It had been a long time since she carried the weapon with her, since the weapon was also her Hell Hound Nunu. She usually just let Nunu roam around freely most of the time these days. That was the first sign that something was wrong. The second, was the look of absolute distress on her face.

"Something's wrong with Laxus. He never came back to Magnolia last night." Ember said, breathing heavily, tears building up in her eyes.

"Didn't he just go off on his own to cool his jets?" Gray asked.

"Yes. But, I'm telling you. Something is wrong." Ember said, shaking her head.

"Maybe you are just high strung from all the recent events. Try and calm down." Gray said calmly.

"I am telling you! I CAN FEEL IT!" Ember shouted. Her dragon slayer magic erupted around her in a bright blue aura and curling shadows.

"If that's the case. Let's go find him." Cobra said supportively.

"I'll go with you guys." Freed said, standing up from his seat.

"Me too." Bickslow nodded.

"Meredy, go with them as well. Just to be safe, the more the better." Makarov said, looking up at the pink haired young woman. She nodded at him.

The group left the guild hall.

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Bris and Acedia hid themselves behind some shipping boxes against a building not far from Fairy Tail. They watched as a group of wizards left the guild hall in a hurry.

"Well, it looks like we have to deal with less people. You ready for this, kid?" Bris said, turning to Acedia with a cocky smile.

"Yes." She nodded.

"Okay, don't slow me down."

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. .

Magic bullets flew by everyone. Literally, every single member present in the guild hall's main room. Not one bullet hit anyone, but landed either exactly next to their head in the wall behind them, or right in front of them at the table they were sitting at. After that, before any one could react, everyone was pushed down to the floor. No one could get up, they all struggled against the invisible pressure that held them down.

"What is going on?" Natsu shouted.

"This is gravity magic!" Lucy cried out.

"And those were magic bullets. Shooting magic like Alzack and Bisca!" Levy said, struggling to move.

"Exactly! Now listen because we need to make this quick!" A voice echoed through the room.

Standing in the doorway of the guild hall were two wizards. A tall and fit man with slicked back black hair and a chiseled jaw line, a shiny silver pistol in each of his hands, and a mirror around his neck. Next to him stood a petite young girl, her hair so pale blonde it was almost white, her blue eyes tired looking and the sweater she wore so big it was longer than her shorts. Her hands were held out in front of her, controlling the gravity in the air that held everyone down.

"Who are you?" Makarov shouted. Even he couldn't move against the gravity.

"Pride and Sloth of course! Who else? I'm sure you have heard of us! Anyways, since our first message wasn't received properly, here is another. Stop your stupid Virtues Trial. Stay out of our way!" The male wizard, Pride, said. A sleek smile on his face.

Then both of them ran off. Jellal had heard the commotion and was at the edge of the balcony on the second floor, but was too late. Everything had happened way to fast. He looked down at Fairy Tail, all members helping each other off the ground and brushing themselves off. He could feel their panic and anger permeating through the air. He had also heard what the intruders had said. Apocalypse Keyes had found out about the Virtues Trial, which meant they must be watching Fairy Tail. They no longer had time to play around with. Jellal ran down the stairs.

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"How are we going to find him?" Gray asked.

"I know him better than you may think." Ember answered, sniffing the air.

"Ssshhhhh." Cobra sneered. He was trying to listen to his surroundings carefully with his super hearing.

Freed and Bickslow walked along in silence. There was no need for talking, they just wanted to find Laxus. That was all that mattered to them. In their eyes he was their leader, and they were his loyal soldiers.

Ember stopped suddenly, and then so did Cobra. They looked at each other, communicating with their eyes, and then both of them broke into a run in the same direction. Gray, Freed and Bickslow ran after them. Eventually they could see something on the ground in the distance, something leaning against a rock. Soon enough they could see that it was Laxus. He didn't look injured, but none of them could sense his magic power, which was unusual.

"Laxus?" Ember called out. He turned his head slowly to the approaching group.

Ember dropped to the ground next to him and threw her arms around him. Her whole body shuddered with her labored breaths. He wrapped his large arms around her and buried his face in her hair, taking in her familiar scent of a forest at the end of a rain storm.

"What happened Laxus? Are you alright?" Freed asked, dropping to his knees on the other side of his close friend, and putting his hand on his shoulder.

"How did you guys find me?" Laxus asked weakly.

"I followed my nose." Ember laughed.

"And my ears." Cobra said with a smirk.

"Of course." Laxus nodded.

"It seems you were right Ember. Something was wrong. I never doubted you." Freed said to Ember with a smile. She smiled back at him.

"Dude, what the hell happened to you?" Bickslow croaked, his hands on his hips. His totem dolls floated at his shoulders. "What happened, what happened" they repeated in creepy child like voices.

"Some bitch that called herself Greed followed me. When I confronted her, she drained me of my magic power. I've never felt anything like that before. I've never been so defenseless." Laxus growled.

"These jerks are getting on my nerves!" Bickslow cackled.

"Yeah. I agree." Cobra huffed.

"It's taking a long time for my magic to build up again. These assholes are no joke." Laxus sighed.

"How are we going to get him back like this?" Freed asked. "None of us can carry him."

"I got it." Ember said, getting to her feet. They all looked at her as if she was crazy.

She grabbed her scythe from her back and held it out in front of her. It lit itself with golden Hell Fire and then in a cloud of flames and shadows it turned into Nunu. The horned wolf-like beast sniffed the air and wagged his tail.

"Nunu, you have to carry Laxus." Ember said to her pet.

"He may be big but he isn't that big!" Cobra gasped.

Ember laughed and shook her head. "He's a Hell Hound, not a dog." An aura of black power engulfed the hell hound, and he grew about twice his normal size, making him the size of a horse. He became a gigantic horned wolf-horse.

"WHOA! That's amazing!" Gray gasped. He had been silent for the most part until then.

The guys helped Laxus get on top of the Hell Hound, it took all four of them to get him up that high. Laxus wasn't exactly a small guy. Once he was safe and comfortable on the large hound, they wizards started making their way back to Fairy Tail.


	6. Chapter 6- No time to waste

Makarov's face was red with anger. The Fairy Tail guild Master had definitely had enough. First Gluttony and Envy attacked Levy, leaving her beaten and bruised. Then Sloth and Pride had showed up at his guild, putting his children in danger, and warning them to stop with the Virtues Trial. And finally, Greed had personally attacked his grandson Laxus. Levy and Laxus were now better, since it had been a few days, but that didn't take away the fact that the members of Apocalypse Keyes were getting serious with them. He didn't know how much further they would go, and he didn't want anyone else to get surprise attacked and hurt. It wasn't worth the risk.

Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra sat across from Makarov, all of them lost in their own thoughts. Jellal had been at the guild when Pride and Sloth had attacked, but he had been too slow to help at all. This made him feel even more guilty than he already did. He had brought this upon Fairy Tail by coming to them for their help, and he had hurt the members with collateral damage in doing so. Even Erza was mad at him. He had gone too far when he had tested a few of the members by having Cobra tell Ember that Laxus was seen with another woman, causing a rift between friends and ultimately hurting Ember deeply. But when he had gotten the help of Flare, formerly a Raven Tail member, to kidnap Lucy in yet another test for the wizards, that was the straw that broke the camels back. Now Erza was furious with him for harming her friends. She hadn't talked to him, or even looked at him in days.

Cobra just wanted to protect his sister, Ember. The trick they had pulled on her had hurt him too, but seeing her hurt over what Apocalypse Keyes did to Laxus was even worse. Revenge was on his mind. He wanted to fight, he wanted to hurt someone. But he knew he couldn't, not yet. It wasn't his place. It was up to the seven wizards that would end up embodying the Seven Heavenly Virtues. So far those wizards were Levy, Freed, Natsu, and Lucy. Chastity, Temperance, Charity, and Diligence, respectively. He could only hope that his sister didn't end up one of the Virtues. He didn't want her in this battle, not this soon.

Meredy didn't know how she felt. She didn't like seeing the Fairy Tail wizards in physical or emotional pain, and everything was moving too fast. Crime Sorciere had never thought this would happen, and she felt like she had failed in her calculations. It's not like strategy was her strongest suit, but it was something she was usually good at when doing it at Jellal's side. And she felt like she had failed not only him, but everyone. She wished Ultear was still around. Meredy knew in her heart that Ultear would know what to do. The thought of the fact that she wasn't there made Meredy's heart break all over again.

"We are going to have to speed things up Jellal." Makarov said sternly.

"Yes Master Makarov. I know." Jellal sighed.

"How are we going to do that? We still have to test for Patience, Kindness, and Humility. Three tests will take too long." Meredy said, distressed.

"Then we will just have to test all the remaining wizards at one time." Makarov said. The Crime Sorciere wizards looked at him with raised eyebrows.

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"It looks like the two of you did a good job, Acedia and Bris. I commend you." The mysterious woman said, happiness in her voice.

"Thank you Mistress." Acedia said quietly.

"Of course we did!" Bris said proudly, banging his fist on his chest, a huge glimmering smile on his face.

"Fairy Tail has been quiet for days. This is good. We can get back to business." The woman said.

"Alright! Nice!" Bris hooted.

"You are both dismissed. Take a day off."

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Ember, Evergreen, Cana, and Mira huddled together at the bar in the main room of the guild hall. They had been chatting with each other and hanging out for most of the day. Just the girls. Elfman, Laxus, and Gajeel had gone out on their own to help Laxus practice. He still didn't feel entirely better since Greed had drained his magic, so the iron dragon slayer Gajeel and Beast Soul Elfman decided to help him out.

Erza, Gray, Juvia, and Lisanna sat at one of the wooden tables. Erza and Lisanna were eating strawberry cake from the bakery down the street. Juvia and Gray had gotten ice cream. Gray kept laughing at Juvia as she struggled to keep her ice cream from melting down the side of her cone. Her hands were all sticky from it and she seemed distressed.

Other than them, the guild hall was pretty empty. Lucy, Natsu and Happy were more than likely still at her house, but would probably show up soon. Levy was with them, because Levy wanted to be there when Lucy opened the gates of Orion and Pleiades, her new silver celestial keys, to make a contract. Chances were that most other wizards had gone out on jobs. Except for Nab, who stood in front of the job board, reading over the jobs over and over again, as usual. But people ignored this, because they were so used to it.

"So is everything better between you and Laxus now?" Evergreen asked Ember.

"Yes. It was all obviously a lie." Ember sighed.

"Thank goodness! I would have never forgiven him!" Mira chirped.

"And I totally would have kicked his ass." Cana smirked.

Ember leaned her head on Cana's shoulder as she laughed. She couldn't have asked for better friends. These girls meant the world to her, they were the sisters she never had. Of course, everyone in the guild meant a lot to her. But Cana, Mira, and Evergreen had been there for her since the very beginning, when almost everyone else didn't trust her. Same went for Bickslow, Freed, and Laxus.

"You know, I am surprised Laxus hasn't asked you to join the Thunder Legion yet." Mira smiled.

"I'm not. I mean, they have a pretty good theme going." Ember shrugged.

"You mean our eye magic stuff?" Evergreen asked.

"Laxus doesn't have eye magic, so who cares." Cana snorted.

"I will talk to Bickslow and Freed, so what they think." Evergreen said with a nod.

"No, no. It's okay, really." Ember laughed.

"I'm still going to do it." Evergreen shrugged, and Ember play punched her in the arm.

"So, there hasn't been a test for the trial in a few days. Why do you think that is?" Gray asked the group he sat with.

"Maybe Master Makarov is nervous. After Sloth and Pride showed up and all." Lisanna said, shoving cake into her mouth.

"That is the most likely explanation." Erza nodded, food flying out of her mouth from talking with her mouth full.

Gray looked down at the table, his brows furrowed. It didn't make sense to him. If all this was so important, why would the Master stop the trial, even if Fairy Tail was threatened? Juvia looked at him with sympathetic eyes, knowing that he was in deep thought. She had finished her ice cream cone, but her hands were covered in sticky ice cream and she held them out in front of her, afraid to touch anything.

"Juvia, why don't you just, like, turn you hands into water and get the stickiness off." Lisanna asked, her mouth full of strawberry cake.

"Oh. Juvia didn't think of that." Juvia chirped.

"You really shock me sometimes Juvia." Erza laughed.

Juvia smiled shyly, but she took Lisanna's advice. Her hands turned into translucent clear water, and then changed back to normal. She felt all of her fingers and smiled as she realized that it had worked, and her hands were no longer sticky. She smiled so wide and happily that everyone couldn't help but laugh. Juvia was a strong and formidable wizard, but sometimes she could be a bit air headed, despite the fact that she was actually really smart.

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Ira fixed the brass spiked goggled on his face. If he turned the spike on the left side, it would make the lenses darker, if he turned the spike on the right, they would become lighter and easier to see out of. The main purpose for him having the goggles was to protect his eyes when he was in battle with his magic. At the moment, he turned the spike on the right so that he could see more clearly.

He was peeking into one of the windows of the Fairy Tail guild hall. His Master had asked him to confirm that the guild was not going forth with their trial. For the past few days they had not done anything to suggest that they were. As much as it angered him, Acedia and Bris had done their job well.

The Sins had been split into two groups so that they could work more effectively when it came to any sort of mission to gain information. They wouldn't know as much as they did if they hadn't split up. Invidia, Gula, Acedia, and Bris were one team, and Ira, Avaria, and Luxuria were the other. Both teams reported to two higher ups. A Mistress and a Master for each team. Ira was satisfied with his team, for the most part, although he hated Luxuria. But Avaria was okay. To be honest, he didn't like most of his guild members.

He liked the members of Fairy Tail better than his own guild mates. They were stupid in his opinion, but they made him laugh instead of making him angry all the time. He was always angry. The mere thought of his anger made his power start to flare up, but he pushed it aside quickly so that no one sensed his presence.

Ira ran his hand through his spiked red hair and let out a sigh. He had been spying on Fairy Tail long enough, it was someone elses turn. He turned on the heels of his leather boots and started heading back to the Apocalypse Keyes base.

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Lucy and Levy sat on Lucy's bed, just staring at the two silver keys. Orion's key had a top shaped like an arrow head, and there was a circle with a bow and arrow in the center of it, the bottom of the key was shaped like the feathers of an arrow, so it essentially looked like an upside down arrow. The Pleiades key was more detailed. The top was made up of a circle of seven stars, and in the center was the shape of the Pleiades star cluster. The bottom of the key looked like a set of angel wings. Natsu and Happy sat on Lucy's sofa, getting impatient.

"Come on, open the gates already! I want to see what these spirits look like!" Natsu groaned.

"Probably goofy like the others." Happy chirped.

"Shut it, cat!" Lucy snapped.

"Well, we have been taking forever. It's been days Lucy! Come on!" Levy said excitedly.

Lucy smiled at Levy and nodded. She was just so excited! It had been so long since she had gotten a new key, and now she had two new keys! Her hands shook in anticipation as she got off her bed and stood in the center of the room. Levy was sitting on the edge of the bed, her eyes lighting up. Natsu and Happy sat up, surprisingly interested and not distracted.

Lucy straightened her back and extended one of her arms in front of her, they key of Orion in her hand and a serious look on her face.

"With the power of me I command you, the gate of the Hunter, Orion, to open!" Lucy said in a firm voice.

A bright light filled the room as the gate between the Spirit World and Earthland opened. When the light disappeared, Orion the Hunter was standing in front of Lucy. Much to everyone's surprise, he was a tall and leanly muscled man with tan olive skin and a handsome face. He had black hair tied into a ponytail at the back of his neck, bright green eyes, and was dressed in a green and brown hunter's jacket with matching pants and black boots. He held a wooden long bow in one hand, and had a leather quiver filled with arrows at his back. Lucy and Levy blushed at his handsomeness.

"Good day my Lady." He said with a courteous bow of his head.

"Uh, wow. So, when are you available for contract?" Lucy asked nervously.

"Hmm, let me see. Everyday, any time, except Sundays." Orion smiled, his teeth sparkled.

"Oh wow! Awesome! Thank you so much!" Lucy squealed.

"What do you do? Just shoot arrows? Sagittarius can do that!" Natsu huffed, a hint of jealousy in his voice. Lucy looked at him slyly, but her cheeks turned red.

"I don't simply shoot arrows my good sir. I am a Hunter. The best Hunter. I can track down any enemy, from anywhere. And when I find them, I never miss." Orion said defensively.

"Oooh you can track people? That's nifty!" Levy smiled.

"Yes, it is really great. But I have another contract to get to. So you can go back now Orion. Thank you!" Lucy said, bowing her head politely.

Orion smiled at her one last time, and disappeared from Earthland. Lucy looked over at Natsu and could see the smug look on his face. She knew he was jealous, and it made her heart flutter in her chest. She put Orion's key on her belt and took the same stance as before, except with the Pleiades key.

"With my power, I order the gate of the seven star constellation, the Pleiades sisters, to open!" Lucy said, and again the bright light filled the room, and disappeared.

But this time it wasn't a handsome hunter that stood in front of them. Seven bright white orbs floated in the air, swirling around each other. The Fairy Tail wizards looked at them with confused expressions.

"Uhm, Pleiades sisters, I would like to make a contract." Lucy said hesitantly.

The seven orbs of light started moving erratically, and then all of a sudden a blinding white light shot out in every direction, causing everyone to shield their eyes. When they opened their eyes the white orbs were gone, and in place of them was seven women, ranging from a young child to an old woman. They all had pale white skin, ice blue eyes, and pure white hair. Lucy, Levy, Natsu and Happy looked at them in awe.

"Sorry about that. We have two forms." The youngest of the seven sisters said.

"It's okay. When are you all available? And if I may ask, what do you do?" Lucy asked curiously.

"We are only available during the night time, any day though." A middle aged but very pretty sister said with a smile.

"And we are protection Spirits. We can make an impenetrable protection circle around you, to protect you from harm." A young and large breasted sister said. Natsu was staring at this one with wide eyes. Now Lucy felt jealous.

"That sounds great! Thank you all so much, I can't wait to work with you!" Lucy chirped.

The Seven Pleiades Sisters smiled and waved as they disappeared from Lucy's room to go back to the Spirit World. Lucy was actually incredibly satisfied with her knew Spirits. She wished Flare had stuck around for a bit longer so she could thank her again, but she had said she had things to take care of and would visit again soon. Lucy sighed happily and went back to her bed to sit with Levy.

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"You say they haven't gone on with that stupid trial?" The man in shadows asked.

"Not in the past few days at least. I was getting bored, so I left." Ira said, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Boredom is no excuse, but no matter, no need to spy anymore." The man chuckled.

"Why is that Master?" Luxuria asked, his curly pink ponytail falling down his back.

"Because, some things are bound to happen no matter what." The Master said.

"What do you mean?" Ira asked.

"Fairy Tail will complete their trial. I am sure of it. And then, they will attack us. But there is no reason to worry. We will be prepared, and we will fight. They stand no chance, no matter what stupid theory they believe in." The mysterious man said, and then a loud laugh came from him and echoed throughout the dark room.

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Laxus, Gajeel, and Elfman sat on a cluster of rocks that was in a clearing in the forest surrounding Magnolia. They had been fighting with each other all day, trying to get Laxus to feel more comfortable with his powers. Elfman and Gajeel knew that his powers were fully regenerated, but he wasn't using them. They just didn't know why. It wasn't like Laxus to hold back in any fight, even if it was against his friends. And it didn't help that they had done their best to anger him as well. But he had somehow kept his cool and didn't lose control.

"Thank you guys for doing this. I appreciate it." Laxus said.

"No problem." Gajeel nodded.

"A real man helps his fellow man!" Elfman cheered.

"Right." Gajeel said, rolling his eyes at Elfman.

Just then Gajeel smelled something. His dragon slayer nose had caught a scent of magical power, and it wasn't from someone in Fairy Tail. He stood up, ready to fight, ready to defend himself and his friends. If it was those freaks from Apocalypse Keyes he was ready. Laxus sensed it too, but he just sat on his rock calmly and not moving. Elfman could sense the magic, and also the tension of his comrades. He stood up, towered over Gajeel, his large muscles bulging and ready. They had used a lot of magic helping Laxus, but all of them had more than enough to fight.

Jellal walked out from behind the trees. His blue hair fell over his face, the red tattoo over his eye sticking out against his pale skin. He had a serious look on his face, and his blue robe blew around his body in the Autumn breeze. His magic aura was yellow around him, and the leaves that had fallen from the trees swirled at his feet.

"Oh, Jellal, it's only you." Gajeel said with a chuckle, relaxing.

"You gave us a scare." Elfman grunted.

Jellal said nothing, instead he held his hands out in front of him and sent Heavenly Beams of bright yellow light at the three Fairy Tail wizards. They were able to jump out of the way in time, but the rocks they had been sitting on seconds ago were now entirely gone, a smoking hole in the ground taking their place.

"What the hell?" Laxus shouted.

"Jellal! What are you doing?" Gajeel growled.

Jellal launched himself at Laxus. Laxus dodged but he felt Jellal touch his shoulder, within seconds a snake tattoo started to slither over his skin. As the tattoo winded itself around Laxus's body he lost the ability to move. He was binded to his spot and fell to the ground, struggling to break free of the Bind Snake that was restricting him. Gajeel jumped at Jellal but was blasted backwards by another dose of Heavenly Beams. He blocked the attack by turning his arm into a large iron staff, but his feet left large rivets in the ground from being blasted back. Elfman came down on Jellal from above, his arm in the form of a reptilian beast. Jellal jumped out of the way and Elfman's fist slammed into the ground, causing it to shake and split apart.

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It happened so suddenly. One second the wizards were chatting and hanging out in the guild hall, and the next they were being attacked by Meredy and Cobra. Cobra had Ember, Mira, Cana, and Evergreen cornered, while Meredy held Gray, Juvia, Lisanna and Erza at bay.

"Erik, what the hell are you doing?" Ember shouted.

"I thought you guys were on our side! I don't understand!" Mira cried out.

"I'm going to kick your ass." Cana growled.

Cana grabbed her tarot card deck and sent a spiral of flaming cards at Cobra, but he was out of the way before the fire tornado of cards could get anywhere near him. Cana gritted her teeth and launched at him angrily. He moved out of the way so fast that she couldn't register that he even moved, and she punched the air in front of her. A confused expression spread across her face.

"I can hear your movements. Idiot." Cobra laughed.

"That's right. That stupid super hearing you have." Evergreen sneered. "Oh, no matter."

She jumped in the air and sent a flurry of exploding white lights down on Cobra. Not a single one hit him. She landed on the ground and stared at him. He looked at her with a smirk. Evergreen pulled down her glasses and her eyes glowed a bright yellow, but Cobra had already closed his one functioning eye.

"I….can….hear….your….thoughts." He said in a taunting voice.

"Yeah, but can you fight with your eyes closed the entire time?" Evergreen snickered.

"Stupid bitch." Cobra laughed.

Evergreen ran at him as Ember grabbed him from behind. Cobra was shocked and surprised but didn't open his eyes. He knew if he opened them, that Evergreen would turn him into stone immediately. And he didn't want to become a statue. He could hear the girls laughing. He knew it was his sister that had her arms wrapped around his neck.

"Erik, I know your tricks, and I know how to fight you. Why are you doing this?" Ember demanded.

"Don't make me poison you Ember." Cobra sighed.

"I will sit here, with my arms around your neck all day. You won't be able to remove me, and I know you won't poison me. So either talk, or your stuck like this." Ember laughed.

"I won't say anything." Cobra growled.

"Then I guess we are going to have some quality brother and sister time." Ember smiled.

"Meredy! What is the meaning of this?" Erza said, drawing her sword.

Meredy stood before the wizards, swords materializing in the air above her head. She had a serious expression on her face. Juvia looked at her with sadness. She had thought Meredy was her friend. And now Meredy was attacking her. It was like Tenrou Island all over again.

"Meredy, I thought Juvia was your friend?" Juvia pleaded.

"This is stupid!" Gray said, sending spears of ice at Meredy. She just deflected them, not moving an inch.

Erza re-quipped into her Flight Armor, leopard ears on top of her head and a longsword in her hand. She rushed at Meredy swiftly, so fast no one could see her, but when she swung her sword at the pink haired wizard, Meredy's swords blocked it. Gray stood his ground, planting his feet firmly. He was getting ready to ice-make his ice cannon. Meredy just smirked at him and held up her wrist. A glowing band with a heart in it's center appeared on it, and Gray gasped. He looked down at his own wrists, but didn't see anything.

"M-Meredy….." Juvia stammered, tears welling up in her eyes.

Gray looked at Juvia. There was a matching glowing band on her wrist. He knew what it was. It was a form of sensory link. It linked two people together, so they could feel each others pain. If one of them died, the other would die. If one was injured, the other would feel the pain of that injury. So Gray knew, that if he shot his ice cannon at Meredy and it hit her, that it would hurt Juvia as bad as it would hurt her. He stopped what he was doing.

Lisanna used her transformation magic and turned into a Tigress. She was now a woman with the features of a tiger, her arms and legs striped, a tail at her back and ears on her head. She went after Meredy and scratched her face. Juvia let out a small cry and touched her cheek as she felt the pain of the scratches that began to bleed on Meredy's cheek. Erza raised her sword and went for Meredy again, but Gray tackled her to the ground.

"Gray, what are you doing?" Erza shouted.

"If you attack her, then Juvia is going to feel the pain!" Gray said, his hands shaking. Erza looked over at Juvia and saw the glowing band on her wrist.

"Dirty trick Meredy." Erza growled.

"I won't fight you. But I will protect Juvia." Gray said to Meredy.

With that statement, Meredy sent a sword flying in Juvia's direction. Gray jumped in front of it and it caught him in the shoulder, but it got nowhere near Juvia. Juvia's face turned bright red and she began to shake.

"Gray!" She called out to him. He stood in front of her breathing heavily, blood coming from his shoulder.

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Mira looked at Cobra with sympathetic eyes. She didn't understand what was going on, but she knew Cobra was a friend. She knew in her heart that Cobra would not hurt his sister. Ember still had her arms locked around Cobra's neck. He didn't struggle against her, and he didn't hurt her.

"Ember, let me get at him while you have him subdued!" Cana growled, holding her fist in the air.

"No. We will sit here, and wait. Until he talks." Ember said in a serious tone.

"Cobra…." Mira said quietly. He looked at her.

Mira walked to him slowly, and stopped when her face was extremely close to his. He looked at her with an angry expression, but she just smiled at him. She tilted her head to the side, and he couldn't handle the kindness that emanated from her. The pureness of her heart was contagious. He struggled against Ember's arms for the first time.

"Don't…." Ember growled in his ear.

"Cobra. I know you are a friend. I don't know why you are doing this, but you can talk to us. We are all friends here." Mira smiled, and grabbed Cobra's hand.

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Jellal walked through the doors of the Fairy Tail guild hall. He looked at the damage around him. Tables and chairs were broken. People sat on the floor or on tables shaking their heads and trying to catch their breath. Jellal looked down at the small old man at his side. Makarov let out a sigh and shook his head. Laxus, Gajeel, and Elfman walked in behind Jellal. They had minor wounds, and some scratches, but nothing serious. Jellal had not one mark on his body or clothes.

Over in one area, Meredy and Juvia were hugging. Mira was bandaging up a wound on Gray's shoulder as he sat on the ground and winced in pain. Erza and Lisanna sat with their heads in their hands at a half broken table. Cana was drinking at the bar, a pissed off look on her face. Evergreen sat next to her, her arms crossed under her breasts, but when she saw Elfman she ran to him and he wrapped his large arms around her. Ember and Cobra sat on the ground, leaning against the bar. She had her head on her brother's shoulder.

"Master, please forgive me for saying this. But you are a jerk." Cana burped.

"Cana!" Mira chided.

"Well…." Cana shrugged.

"Sorry about all this. But we don't have the time to do the trial properly. So we figured a battle might be the best way to gauge the remaining of you that would pass on to fight the Sins." Makarov explained, but he gave Cana an unimpressed glare.

"We know that now." Erza sighed.

"But we didn't….." Lisanna sighed next to her.

"Someone could have gotten seriously hurt!" Gray shouted.

"Gray did get hurt." Juvia whimpered.

"It's nothing serious." Gray shrugged.

"Would you stay still Gray?" Mira laughed. She put the finishing touches on his bandage and then walked over to Master Makarov.

"Thank you for acting in such a way Mira." Makarov smiled. She smiled back at him.

"Well, we finally know the remaining three wizards. So no more tests. But unfortunately, you will be going off to fight Apocalypse Keyes soon." Jellal explained.

"Well, which three of us is it then?" Erza asked, an attitude in her voice. She still hadn't forgiven Jellal, and likely wouldn't anytime soon.

"Patience goes to Ember, for the way she dealt with the sudden attack of her brother. Not to mention the way she is able to control her darkness anyways." Jellal said.

"What?" Ember gasped. She had not expected to pass any of these tests.

"No way!" Laxus shouted. He balled his hands into fists. He didn't want Ember going into this battle. Not unless he was with her.

"Yes, Laxus." Jellal snapped.

"She's not fighting any of those freaks, not unless I am there with her." Laxus growled.

"Excuse me?" Ember laughed, somewhat offensive, but also flattered at his protectiveness.

"Unfortunately that isn't going to happen. You and Gajeel both failed. Elfman wasn't being tested, but he would have too. Either way, you won't be fighting any Sins." Jellal said.

"I'm not exactly surprised by that." Cobra laughed.

"Shut your mouth you punk!" Laxus shouted.

"Yeah! That's bullshit." Gajeel growled. Now that he knew he definitely wasn't going to battle, he realized that he actually had wanted to. The realization that Levy would be going against one of those wizards without him there to help her also dawned on him, and it made him angry and nervous.

"Tough shit." Cobra said with a smirk. Laxus and Gajeel looked like they were ready to tear him into pieces.

"Enough!" Jellal snapped at his comrade. Cobra grunted and looked at the ground with a sour look on his face.

"Anyways. It's no surprise that Mira passes for Kindness." Meredy announced.

"W-What?" Mira stammered. "I...I don't want to fight anyone."

"I'm so sorry Mira, but you are incredibly powerful. And you are the embodiment of Kindness. I never doubted that. And I have total faith in you." Makarov said, grabbing Mira's hand.

"Thank you...Master." Mira said shyly, looking at the ground.

"And lastly, for Humility we have Gray. The selflessness and bravery he showed when I linked myself to Juvia, it was incredible." Meredy said, smiling at both Juvia and Gray. Juvia blushed, Gray gasped.

"I actually passed one of these things?" Gray said shocked.

"It seems so pal!" Cobra laughed.

"Great." Gray sighed.

"That leaves the official lineup at MiraJane, Ember, Lucy, Natsu, Gray, Freed, and Levy. I know some of them are not here, but deliver them this message. You only have a day. After tomorrow, you all will be attacking Apocalypse Keyes." Jellal said.


	7. Chapter 7-Off To Battle

The autumn sun rested high in the sky, light fluffy clouds traveling slowly across it. The air was warm for Autumn, but the breeze carried in the chill. Orange, yellow, red and brown leaves danced both on the ground and on sleepy tree branches. The town of Magnolia smelled of hot apple cider and freshly baked pumpkin pies. The smell of burning wood also tinted the air. Generally speaking, it was a beautiful Autumn day, but for Fairy Tail a dark cloud loomed over the guild. Today was the day the chosen seven would go forth. The seven Fairy Tail wizards that embodied the Seven Heavenly Virtues. Today, they would leave Magnolia and Fairy Tail to commence battle on the dark guild Apocalypse Keyes. And they would fight the Seven Deadly Sins.

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Knock knock.

Erza looked away from her mirror and at the door to her room. Luckily she had just changed out of her sleep clothes and into her every day armor. She hadn't been expecting guests. She ran her fingers through her long scarlet red hair and went to answer the door.

Standing there in a blue cloak was Jellal. Blue choppy hair fell in front of the Crime Sorciere wizard's face. His eyes were turned to the ground. He moved the hair that was covering the red tattoo over his eye with one hand nervously. Erza's hands shook as she instantly became angry. She had been avoiding Jellal for days. She was so angry at him for putting her friends and her guild through the Virtues Trial. So many people had gotten hurt, both mentally and physically. She loved Jellal, and had known him most of her life, but that didn't get him a pass.

"Jellal, what are you doing here?" Erza growled.

"I wanted to apologize, Erza. I don't want you to be mad at me." Jellal sighed.

"How can I not be mad at you? Are you kidding?" Erza yelled.

"No, I understand your anger. And I don't blame you for it. I never wanted to harm anyone in Fairy Tail." Jellal said.

"But you did!" Erza cried out.

"I know I did. And I really am sorry, Erza. We were only doing what we knew had to be done to beat these enemies. Those wizards are dangerous."

"I know."

"Then why can't you forgive me?"

Erza let out a gasp. Did he really think she would never forgive him? He had almost killed her and Natsu once before, and she had forgiven him. Of course she would forgive him for this. She was just angry with him at the moment. But he looked so defeated and genuinely upset.

"Jellal….I never said I wouldn't ever forgive you. I'm just angry right now." Erza said in a low voice.

"As long as you can forgive me one day. That's all that matters." Jellal nodded, and he smiled shyly at her.

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Levy and Gajeel had joined up with Natsu and Lucy to walk to the Fairy Tail guild hall. They walked down the paved road in silence. Of the four wizards the only one not leaving the guild today to go forth into battle was Gajeel. His frustration at this was apparent by the look on his metal studded face and the rigid way that he walked. Levy walked beside him dressed in a thick orange sweater, black pants, and knee high brown boots. Her wavy blue hair was tied up into a high ponytail, loose pieces of hair falling around her face. She was nervous, but she had to get herself into the right mind frame. She knew that she couldn't go into this a neurotic mess.

Lucy walked closely to Natsu. Her long blonde hair was in high pigtails, her bangs falling over her eyes. She wore brown shorts and a green hooded sweatshirt with matching combat boots. Her belt with her whip and celestial keys hung around her waist. Natsu was dressed in his usual black and orange vest, white pants, and white scaled scarf that his dragon Igneel had given him when he was a child. The blue cat Happy sat on his shoulder. Natsu was ready for this fight, he was always ready for any fight. Especially if it meant protecting his guild. He knew that Apocalypse Keyes would become a huge problem for everyone in Fiore if they were not stopped, and he planned on stopping them. Lucy wasn't scared, but she wasn't entirely ready either. She didn't know what she was going up against, it was all a mystery. She doubted her strength.

"I'm really not ready for this." Lucy sighed.

"I'm not either." Levy nodded.

"Both of you need to buck up. This is serious shit. Stop doubting yourselves." Gajeel growled.

"Gajeel is right. Remember, you two are among the seven. Only seven of us are going! You should feel proud." Natsu smiled.

"Aye!" Happy chirped.

"I don't know if this is exactly something to be excited about." Lucy said.

"You can say that again, girl." Levy laughed.

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Ember put on her leather coat. She gave Nunu a hug around his fluffy hell hound neck, and then waited for him to turn into a death scythe. When he finished his transformation, she hooked the weapon to her back. She tucked her black pants into her dark brown combat boots and tied up the laces tightly. Then she sat at the small breakfast table in her room and lit up a cigarette.

"You and those stupid things." Laxus grunted.

The blonde lightning dragon slayer sat on the edge of the bed. His fur lined black coat was hanging off of his shoulders, and he was rubbing the lightning bolt shaped scar over his eye because he was stressed. Ember looked at him and smiled. She wished that he was coming with her to this battle, but she knew that he couldn't. She had to go one on one with a Sin. Only she could defeat this wizard. Laxus would be safe at Fairy Tail, so that meant she didn't have to worry about him, and it took some weight off her shoulders.

"I can tell you are stressed. Don't be." Ember said calmly.

"I can't help it. I want to go with you. I don't like this whole one on one shit, where only seven people can go." Laxus growled.

"I know. You're not the only one that feels this way. But at least the rest of you will be safe here. That's important."

"You have a point. But we are all going to be worrying about you guys."

"I know."

Ember put out her cigarette and stood up. She walked over to the bed and sat down next to Laxus, nuzzling herself close to him. He wrapped his arm around her and rested his head on hers. They took in the scent of each other. Ember needed this. She needed to smell him, because she knew she wouldn't be smelling him for awhile. That comfort would be lost to her. He had the luxury of being able to be in her room, a room that had her scent all over it. As if Laxus could read her mind, he handed her a crumpled up purple button up shirt. The one with the huge collar. She took it from him, even though it would be big on her, she removed her leather jacket and put the purple shirt on. She rolled up the sleeves to her elbow, tied the bottom into a knot at her waist, and left the top few buttons undone. She smiled at him, her cheeks turning red, and put her jacket back on over the shirt.

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Lisanna helped Mira adjust her top in the storage room. MiraJane wasn't used to going into large battles, she always stood back at the guild, but she knew she couldn't wear a dress to this occasion. Instead she wore an outfit similar to what she had worn when she was a teenager. A black sweater, white shorts, black knee high boots, and she had her thick long white hair pulled up into a ponytail.

"Mira, are you nervous?" Lisanna asked.

"Yes. I still can't believe I am going." Mira giggled nervously.

"You are going to be great sis. I know it." Lisanna smiled.

Mira looked at her younger sister happily. She was so proud of the young woman Lisanna had grown up to be. Still so caring and gentle, like she had been as a little girl. Mira threw her arms around Lisanna and hugged her tightly. The door to the storage room creaked open slowly, and the two girls turned to look at who was entering.

Their gigantic lumbering brother Elfman was standing in the doorway. He had a distressed look on his chiseled face, his white hair sticking out in all different directions. Mira and Lisanna smiled up at him and held their arms out. He walked over to his older and younger sister, wrapped his huge arms around them, and lifted them off the ground into a giant hug.

"Beat those jerks asses Big Sis. You're a real man." Elfman said in his deep voice, but one lonely tear leaked from the corner of his eye.

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Freed sat at the bar with Bickslow, Evergreen, and Cana. They were waiting for Mira to come back from getting into more battle appropriate clothing. Elfman had gone to the storage room to make sure his sisters were okay, since they had been taking way longer than they should have. Freed was in his usual red cloak belted at the waist, his sword at his side. His long pale green hair went all the way down his back, tied at the very bottom. His bangs hid his intelligent eyes.

"Freed, you are going to blow this guy out of the water." Evergreen said in a cocky voice.

"Hell yeah he is!" Bickslow cheered, his totem dolls repeating after him.

"I don't doubt my strength. I shall be fine." Freed smiled.

"You are more worried about the others aren't you?" Evergreen asked, her shoulders hunching.

"Of course he is." Cana burped, she was already pretty buzzed. Her nerves were driving her crazy, and she wanted to numb herself.

"I know everyone is capable. But still." Freed sighed.

"You are specifically worried about Ember and Mira, just admit it Freed." Cana laughed, rolling her eyes.

"Mira and Ember? Why?" Bickslow asked.

"Yeah, they are both really strong Freed." Evergreen snickered.

"It has nothing to do with their strength you goons. Man, you Thunder Legion weirdos are pretty dense sometimes. He obviously has a thing for Mira. And he's worried about Ember because if something happens to her, he is worried about what it will do to Laxus. So dumb you guys." Cana cackled, and then chugged down her drink.

Evergreen and Bickslow let out a sigh. They did feel pretty dumb at that moment. They should have known. Freed smiled at them and patted them on the shoulders. Then he took a sip of his drink.

Gray sat next to Juvia in silence. She didn't take her ocean blue eyes off of him. She had all the faith in the world in Gray, but she was still worried about him. She also didn't understand why he was so distant. He usually was never bothered by going into any battle. She put her hand lightly over his, and he turned to look at her. His eyes softened and he smiled.

"Don't worry about me Juvia. I'm going to be fine." Gray said confidently.

"Juvia believes in Gray. She knows he will be okay." Juvia smiled sweetly.

Both of them turned to the guild hall entrance as the doors opened. Apparently a ton of people decided to arrive at the guild all at once. They were all struggling to get inside against each other. Lucy and Natsu ducked themselves through the group while Happy flew over it. Gajeel and Cobra bumped shoulders and growled at each other. Meredy and Levy used the same technique as Lucy and snuck by. Jellal and Erza stood back waiting patiently with Makarov, and Laxus. Ember pushed her way through to get over to her friends at the bar.

Finally the chaos in the doorway ended. Natsu, Lucy, and Happy joined Gray and Juvia at their table, followed by Gajeel and Levy. Laxus stayed at his grandfathers side as Ember socialized with Bickslow, Evergreen, Freed and Cana. Elfman, Mira, and Lisanna finally came back from the storage room and joined them. Erza stood by Jellal's side.

"Children, today is a dark day. Today we have to bid a short farewell to our comrades as they go forth to fight the Seven Deadly Sins of Apocalypse Keyes." Makarov said in a loud voice.

"We have faith in every single one of you. Bid your friends farewell, and then it is time to go on your way." Jellal said.

"We look forward to seeing you when you get back!" Erza said with a forced smile. She was way to nervous for her friends for the smile to be real.

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All the wizards that were meant to fight kept tough faces. They didn't let themselves shed any tears, they showed no weakness. Even if their friends couldn't hold themselves back. Not only did the fighters have to say goodbye to their friends, but also each other, since they would all be splitting up and going different they would say goodbye to the rest of the guild and then once they got out of Magnolia, they would say goodbye to each other.

Evergreen and Cana latched onto Ember and Mira's arms, making the girls laugh. Bickslow and Laxus shook Freed's hand.

"You guys are being silly!" Mira giggled.

"No we are not! This is serious!" Cana slurred, her eyes red from the alcohol.

"Maybe if we hold on, you won't have to go!" Evergreen whined.

"I don't think that's how this all works." Ember laughed.

"Take care of yourself Freed." Laxus said, shaking his close friends hands.

"We will see you when you return, buddy." Bickslow nodded at him.

"Of course. I look forward to it." Freed smiled.

Mira pried herself free of Cana so that she could go give Lisanna and Elfman one last hug goodbye. Ember picked Evergreen off of her and went over to Laxus. She wrapped her arms around his waist, and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I'll see you when I get back." Ember said.

"Be careful with that shirt, it's my favorite." Laxus smiled.

"Okay. Are you going to give me a kiss goodbye or make me wait forever?"

"I'm saving that for when you come home."

"Juvia, you have to let me go!" Gray shouted, struggling to get free of Juvia's grasp.

"But Juvia doesn't want to!" the blue haired woman cried.

She had been fine until a few minutes before, when she had a meltdown. A never ending flow of tears fell down her face as she gripped onto Gray's waist with all her strength. He was getting impatient with the struggle. He relaxed his body and looked at Juvia with a calm face.

"Juvia, I promise, I will be back soon." He said with a smile. Her grip on him loosened, and she let him go.

Levy hugged Gajeel for what felt like forever. She felt so safe in his arms. She didn't want to let him go, she didn't want to leave. He felt the same way. He didn't want Levy to go off alone. He didn't want to have to worry about her.

"Try not to worry about me, okay?" Levy chirped.

"I'm not worried about you kid. I know you will come home." Gajeel smiled down at her. Then he lifted her off the ground into his arms and planted a big kiss on her lips.

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Makarov walked with the seven wizards until they were out of Magnolia. He bid them a tear filled farewell, and let them know that he fully believed they would all return home after being successful in battle. After the Master had made his speech and said his goodbyes, he went back to Fairy Tail, leaving the seven wizards to say goodbye to each other, and then go their separate ways.

Ember and Freed looked at each other hesitantly, but then they grabbed each other in a long and tight hug.

"Be careful Freed." Ember sniffed, a tear rolling down her cheek.

"Don't worry about me. We will be back at Fairy Tail making fun of Cana while she is drunk soon enough." Freed said with a smile. Ember laughed and pulled away from him. He wiped the tear from her cheek.

" You kick Gluttony's ass. I don't want to have to hunt him down if he hurts one of my best friends." Ember said with a smirk.

"I plan on it. And you, good luck with Wrath. Although, I don't think you need it." Freed said with a wink.

Mira hugged Ember from behind, her face hidden in Ember's hair. She could feel Mira softly shaking with light sobs, and she grabbed her hands. She turned around and looked into Mira's watery blue eyes, and smiled at her.

"Why are you so emotional Mira?" she asked.

"I'm just so worried." Mira sniffled.

"Oh Mira, you are worrying about the wrong people!" Natsu laughed, walking up from behind her with Happy flying over his head. Lucy and Gray stood on either side of him, and Levy stood next to Lucy.

"W-What do you mean?" Mira stammered.

"There's no reason to be worried about any of us! We are Fairy Tail, and so are you!" Natsu cheered.

"That's right. So put your infamous smile back on your face and walk with your head held high. We all know what you can do in a fight." Gray smiled at her.

"And You have fought Freed before, so you know how tough he is!" Lucy chirped.

"Yeah, you guys are right. I shouldn't let my emotions get to me so much!" Mira laughed shyly.

"Oh Mira, but you wouldn't be you without them!" Ember smiled and gave Mira another hug.

Levy grabbed Lucy's hand and squeezed it. The two girls looked into each others eyes and smiled at each other. They weren't going to let themselves cry, they needed to be encouraging and strong for each other, and the others.

"Go kick ass Lucy!" Levy cheered.

"You bet!" Lucy yelled, holding a fist into the air. The two girls then hugged.

Natsu and Gray looked at each other with serious expressions. They were always competing or fighting with each other. Ice and Fire just didn't naturally mix. But when it came to things like this, they were family, friends, Fairy Tail. The two young men shook each others hand firmly.

"Don't go missing this time fire breath." Gray snickered.

"I won't. Don't you lose ice pants." Natsu laughed.

Natsu turned to Lucy. This was the hardest goodbye for him. He was always fighting at Lucy's side. The thought of being far away from her when she may need his assistance made his stomach knot up. He didn't like it. She looked at him, her eyes glazing over and ready to release tears, but she wouldn't allow it. Natsu could tell she was holding them back, and he knew it was because she wanted to remain strong for her comrades. He put his arms around her and hugged her close, her face buried in his shoulder, smelling him. She shuddered lightly, letting out some tears while her face was hidden.

"Wipe them on my shirt before you pull away." Natsu whispered in her ear with a smile. She nodded.

Lucy pulled away from him, her face dry, as if she hadn't just cried at all. She smiled at him, the pink haired fire dragon slayer that had brought her to Fairy Tail and made her life what it was. He had changed it for the better. He was everything to her.

"Natsu, seriously, don't go missing this time." Lucy laughed.

"I won't, I promise. Besides, that was Ember's fault." Natsu said, a giant smile on his face.

"It was not!" Ember yelled at him.

The seven wizards shared one last laugh with each other. They hugged, they shook hands, they wished each other luck. And then they split up, each one going to fight a separate person, but the same enemy.

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Levy, the wizard of the Heavenly Virtue Chastity, was getting close. She knew it in her bones, she could feel it in the air. No birds chirped, no animals scurried in the underbrush. Nothing but silence. What was at one moment a nice Autumn day now had the chill of Winter. She got goosebumps on her skin. She was here to battle Lust. It was her knowledge and honesty that had gotten her here.

She had no idea what Lust looked like. In her mind she pictured a curvy woman with long blonde hair, almost like Jenny from Blue Pegasus. She couldn't have been more wrong. She wasn't startled when he stepped out from the shadows of the trees, because she knew he was going to be there, somewhere. She had been expecting him, and she was prepared. She took a firm stance and locked eyes with the wizard. Lust, of the Seven Deadly Sins of Apocalypse Keyes.

He was tall and slender, and dressed in a sleek black suit with pink accents on the cuffs and collar. He had no shirt underneath the suit jacket, so his chest was exposed. There was also a tail on the suit jacket much like a penguin's tail. His curly light pink hair was tied up in a high ponytail, the curls falling down to the middle of his back, and little ringlets popping out near his face. His eyes were a deep and dark pink, and he held a red rose up to his nose, and sniffed it.

"Levy McGarden, Fairy Tail wizard of Solid Script magic, and the lovely lady of Chastity. Hm." He said in a voice as smooth as pouring honey.

"That's right! I know who you are too. Lust, one of the Sins, from Apocalypse Keyes." Levy said confidently, squinting at the tall beautiful man.

"I wonder, Levy….are you indeed chaste?" Lust said with a sly smile. Levy balled her hands into fists and grinded her teeth.

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Freed came upon Gluttony suddenly and quietly. The gigantic man was sitting on top of a rock with his arms folded over his bare muscular chest. A black cape blew around him in the breeze, and a long thick black ponytail hung down his back, even though the rest of his head was bald. He looked at Freed with eyes as black as the deepest shadows. Freed kept his hand on his sword, and his eyes locked on his enemy. His pale green hair blew in the wind behind him. He was ready. There was nothing about this foe that scared Freed.

"Freed Justine, I wonder, how will your Runes and Ecriture magic fare against a glutton?" the large man said in a deep and hollow voice.

"I expect it will be rather effective." Freed said calmly.

"You know, I always found Temperance annoying. Honor, Justice, Self-control. It's all just garbage. I would rather indulge." Gluttony said with a thick laugh.

"And that's where the problem lies." Freed nodded, and then he drew his sword.

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"I like your scarf. Give me it." The woman said from behind Natsu. He jumped and spun around quickly.

She stood there, long legs never ending from under a short green dress. She was adorned in all sorts of gold chains and jewels. Her hair was down to her shoulders, choppy, and a dark green. Her eyes matched. Natsu growled at her, his fist erupting into flames.

"Calm down Salamander. You know, one of my comrades was really upset that they were not meant to fight you." She said mockingly.

"I'm assuming you are Greed then?" Natsu asked.

"You assume correctly fire dragon. So, are you going to give me your scarf? I mean, isn't that what Charity is all about?" Greed laughed.

"You will never get this scarf." Natsu shouted.

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Lucy was tired from walking up the rocky mountain, but she kept going. She was Diligence after all, never giving up is what got her in this mess in the first place. So she certainly wasn't going to stop walking now, even if she could barely breath. But then she got an idea. She unhooked her key holder and took out one of the keys, it was silver and the top looked like a clock. All she had to do was summon Horologium and he could walk with her inside for awhile, so that she could get some rest. She snickered.

"I wouldn't do that. Why waste your magic on such nonsense?" A very soft voice said.

Lucy looked up. Sitting not to high above her on the edge of a rocky cliff was a petite and pale girl with hair so blonde it was almost white. Her pale blue eyes were droopy with tiredness, and the baggy white sweater she wore was so big it almost hid her entire figure. She kicked her bare legs back and forth out of boredom, looking down at Lucy and waiting for the celestial wizard to recognize her.

"Do you not remember me Lucy Heartfilia?" The girl asked, still talking softly.

"Uhm…." Lucy froze for a second, and then it clicked. "That's right! You're Sloth, you came to Fairy Tail with that other guy Pride to warn us!"

"Good, you do remember." Sloth smiled.

That's when Lucy also remembered that this wizard had used gravity magic. Very strong gravity magic. Lucy started to panic.

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Ember sat in a patch of grass and waited. Wrath would show up, she knew that. She didn't know when, but she didn't care how long she had to sit there. Patience. She understood now. It took Patience to deal with Wrath in any form. Ember smiled to herself, picking weeds out of the ground and tossing them aside. She heard footsteps approaching, and then a figure of black and red sat down really fast right next to her.

"Copying my style with your leather jacket?" The young man sneered.

Ember turned her head slowly and calmly, to look at the wizard sitting next to her. She could smell him, he reeked of it. He was a dragon slayer. Just like her. He smelled like a mixture of thick smoke, burning forests, and static electricity. It was as if Natsu and Laxus's scents had mixed together. He actually reminded her of an older Natsu, with the way his spiked dark red hair was, and his crooked smile. Over his eyes he wore brass goggles with a large spike on each side, much like Laxus's spiked headphones. The lenses of the goggles were dim enough for her to tell that his eyes were the same color grey as smoke, or storm clouds. His jacket was a leather one like hers, over a black tanktop, and his pants were black and baggy but ripped off at the knees. One of his combat boots was folded down so that his guild emblem was visible on his calf.

"It seems we have similar tastes in style." Ember said calmly.

"Yes. Among other things." Wrath smiled at her, his teeth glistening in the sunlight.

"I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. But, I know you are a dragon slayer." Ember stated, not taking her eyes off of him.

"Ding ding ding we have a winner! Good nose you have there!" He laughed, leaning closer to her.

"Well, I'm sure you already know that I am one as well." Ember sighed.

"Of course. I have known long before this meeting." He said proudly.

"So, before we get on with this, what type of dragon slayer should I be expecting?"

"Volcano my dear."

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Mira stared at the woman in front of her. They were both of the same height and build, except Mira was light, and this other woman was dark. Her raven black hair went down almost to her ass and she had thick bangs down to her eyes. Her eyes were such a bright green that it looked like they were glowing, and it reminded Mira of Bickslow. She wore a form fitting green turtleneck, white pants, and thigh high black boots. Her face was beautiful, but hard.

"MiraJane Strauss. The She-Devil. The advent of Satan. You don't look scary at all." The woman taunted Mira.

"Don't ever judge a person by their appearance. You will be very disappointed." Mira said in a firm voice.

"It never steered me wrong. But I must say, I wish I had your powers as my own." She smiled, and her green eyes seemed to light up.

"Envy doesn't look good on anyone." Mira chuckled.

"I don't know what you mean, I always look good!" Envy said with a malicious smirk. Mira got ready to stand her ground.

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"You know, I don't get it. While watching Fairy Tail I noticed how absolutely in love with you that gorgeous blue haired woman is. I just don't get it."

Gray sneered at the man that leaned against a tree with a cocky expression on his face. He didn't like this guy at all. The way he talked, the way he moved, the way he dressed. His clothes were so perfect there wasn't a single wrinkle in them. His hair was as black and slick as oil and slicked back on his head, his eyes were so blue it was to make it worse, he wore a small mirror around his neck on a chain. Gray really hated this guy.

"Don't look so angry. It's okay to admit that you arn't worth the eyes of beautiful women." Pride laughed.

"I don't know what nonsense you are going on about, but I really don't care." Gray sneered.

"I am so glad you are supposed to be Humility, because really, I am going to humiliate you." Pride smiled wide, perfect white teeth sparkling at Gray.

"I'm not worried about it." Gray said matter-of-factly.

"Say, why do you have barely any clothes on?" Pride asked. Gray looked down and noticed he had already stripped off his shirt out of habit.

"Well, fighting is easier this way." He smirked.

"Oh well in that case, let this be the first bit of humiliation." Pride smirked back. He ripped off his shirt, revealing perfectly tanned and toned muscles. He put his hands on his hips and smiled in admiration of himself. Gray just rolled his eyes.

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Laxus and Gajeel were sitting at a table with Juvia. All three of them were resting their elbows on the table, their faces in their hands, staring blankly into nothing. There might as well have been rain clouds over their heads, drenching them. Cana walked over to them, a mug of ale in her hand, and plopped down next to Juvia. She looked at the three wizards and shook her head with a laugh.

"You three look pathetic!" She cackled, almost falling backwards.

"Shut your mouth." Gajeel growled, not looking at her.

"Oh the big iron baby speaks!" Cana said in a mocking voice, and continued laughing.

"Cana…." Juvia said quietly, but trailed off.

"Seriously you guys. This is ridiculous. Especially coming from you Laxus! Big ol' bad boy!" Cana chugged her beer.

"Watch it Cana. Don't think I won't fight you." Laxus sneered.

"Right, I am so scared of a bunch of cry babies. Seriously, buck the hell up!" Cana shouted, slamming her mug on the table. The three wizards looked at her, anger burning in their eyes.

"Just leave us alone, will yah?" Gajeel snapped.

"No. While our friends are out there fighting for their lives, and ours, you three are sitting around like dead wood. Grow up, get real. The people you love are out there fighting, and you are sitting here moping." Cana said with a roll of her eyes, and then she stood up from the table and left. Laxus, Gajeel and Juvia looked at each other, and they let out a heavy sigh.


	8. Chapter 8- The calm before the storm

Lisanna, Juvia, Elfman, Evergreen, and Bickslow all sat together at a table in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Their friends, family, comrades, were currently out battling the Seven Deadly Sins of the dark guild Apocalypse Keyes. Everyone was worried. Master Makarov, the Crime Sorciere members, Fairy Tail, and even Porlyusica. None of them knew when any of them would be back, or what condition they would be in when they returned. If they returned. It was like the Bone Crusher and Earth Dragon battle all over again.

The main door to the guild hall opened, letting in the scent of the Autumn air outside, and the light from the bright sun. A curvy woman with unthinkably long red hair walked in, her eyes crazy and looking around. It was Flare, she had come back. She spotted Master Makarov on top of the bar and went over to him. The wizards at the table looked at her curiously, wondering what she was doing back, and why she was going to talk to the Master. Bickslow perked up and kept his eyes on Flare's every move. Lisanna felt that slight pang of jealousy in her gut, but she pushed it aside. She had to think about Mira, send positive energy her way.

Flare leaned close to the Master, whispering in his ear. They were too far away to hear anything that she said, but the Master was nodding approvingly.

"Very good, Flare. Thank you." Makarov nodded.

"Your welcome, sir." Flare said quietly, bowing her head at him.

"You are dismissed my dear." Makarov smiled at her. She gave him a crooked smile back.

Flare turned away from the Fairy Tail master and began walking towards the guild hall doors so that she could leave. She had done what she was asked to do, and there was no more reason to linger. She hadn't been paying attention and she ran into someone, hitting hard enough to bounce off of them and stumble backwards. Strong hands grabbed her shoulders and helped steady her. She turned her eyes upwards and they came in contact with green eyes as crazy as her own. It was Bickslow, his blue and black hair spiking out in three different directions, an insane smile on his face.

"Hello Bickslow. I must be going." Flare said shyly, trying to walk past him.

"Come back soon. I wouldn't mind running into you again, you are my type of crazy." Bickslow said with a cackle.

Flare hid her blushing face behind her red hair. Then she turned and walked away, out the doors, and disappeared into the sunlight.

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Four powerful wizards stood in a circle in a pitch black room. They were hidden in shadows, and as they talked to each other their voices echoed off the walls.

"The battles between the Fairy Tail Virtues and our Sins has commenced." The smooth voice of a woman said.

"It was bound to happen eventually, better sooner than later." A dominating voice of a man said.

"Well, they better win. Otherwise we are screwed." A bratty female voice added into the conversation.

"No, we won't be screwed, but it doesn't matter, our children will win. Master Makarov's children may be strong, but ours are stronger." The dominating man said.

The four wizards laughed together. They were faithful in their victory, even though no such victory was even close to happening yet.

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Levy hated this guy. She didn't care how handsome he was with his smooth white skin and curly pink hair. She didn't care that the smell of the rose he carried was putting her under a spell that made her feel lovely inside. She could feel him charming her, and no matter how hard she acknowledged it or fought it, the charm spell didn't waver. This made his charm magic much different than the average, which would wear off as soon as the person being charmed knew they were under a spell.

Lust smiled at Levy as he circled her, He had not made any attacks. Sure, he was charming her, but it wasn't doing any harm to the blue haired girl. It was just making her feel nice, and eventually she would be swept off her feet. He knew there was no way for her to keep herself from falling under his spell. No one could. Granted, a strong enough wizard could power through it and not be manipulated, but he knew this girl wasn't powerful enough for that.

Levy wiped the sweat off her face with the sleeve of her orange sweater. She had to attack this guy. She couldn't keep standing around, the longer she didn't take action the stronger she would fall under Lust's spell. She brought up the image of Gajeel in her mind, thinking that maybe letting him run around in her thoughts would block some of the charm from this other man, while also making her stronger. She would never forget what Gajeel had said to her before the S-class exam, how he would make her big, and make her strong.

"Solid Script Whirlwind!" Levy called out, throwing the word Whirlwind in giant letters at Lust. The letters themselves were a strong wind storm. The word hit Lust and sent him spiraling in the air, his pink hair blowing around his face and shoulders. He held his arm up to his face to keep dirt from getting into his beautiful pink eyes.

When the wind died down he fell to the ground, and landed on his feet. He had a smile on his face, and he was looking directly into Levy's eyes. She gasped and stumbled backwards. How did that not do more damage? She bit her lip and didn't hesitate, sending a solid script of Fire at the charm wizard. This time he dodged it easily, and just shook his head.

Levy stood her ground, panting, trying to catch her breath. She had plenty of magic power left, but she was beginning to feel weak and she didn't know why. Her legs wobbled, her heart fluttered. She could feel her cheeks getting hot with blush. She slapped herself in the face and tried to snap out of it, but the feelings only got stronger.

"Yes, lovely girl, I am going to sweep you off your feet!" Lust cooed at her, sniffing at the red rose he now held in his hand.

He blew on the rose, and a stream of light pink sparkles fluttered into the air, coming straight at Levy. She looked at the fragments glittering in the sun. So pretty, so many different shades of pink. The air looked like it was dotted with tiny pink diamonds. The sparkles hit her in the face and went up her nose. The smell of roses and chocolate and even the smell of sex overwhelmed her. Her head began to swim, and heart began to pound even harder. She was having trouble catching her breath as she continued wiping the sweat droplets off of her face. She fell to her knees in the dirt and put her face in her hands. She didn't know what to do. She had no control over this charm spell. She felt like she was having the most epic romantic experience of her life, as if she was about to walk down the isle and marry the man of her dreams. But she was in the middle of a battle. This type of manipulation would weaken her. She could not defend herself like this.

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Freed had his sword drawn, and he was rushing towards Gluttony at full speed, but the man did not move. Freed knew that if the man didn't move, then he would certainly land a hit on him. Closer, closer, and Gluttony still did not move an inch. Freed raised his sword, bringing it down on the large mans shoulder, but Gluttony caught the blade with one hand while grabbing Freed around the neck with his other one. Freed choked out a gasp as he felt the large rough hands tighten on his throat.

Gluttony smiled at him and then threw him down onto the ground. Freed rolled head over heels and few times and then stopped. He got to his knees, and then to his feet, his eyes burning holes through the man he was fighting. No one ever touched him like that. Ever. He kept his calm and brushed off his red robes. He stood there, his feet firmly planted on the ground, his sword at his side.

"Nice trick you pulled there." Freed said.

"I'm surprised you fell for it." Gluttony chuckled.

"Yeah, me too." Freed nodded.

"But, that's what I wanted you to do." Gluttony said, a sinister grin appearing on his face.

"What do you mean?" Freed asked, raising his eyebrows.

Gluttony just laughed, a full bellied laugh that made Freed uncomfortable. What exactly had this man accomplished? He had only grabbed him by the throat and threw him to the ground. That was no victory, not even close. Thoughts spiraled in Freed's head as he tried to make sense of the situation, and then the realization of who this wizard was hit him all at once. He had been one of the wizards that had attacked Levy awhile back at the beginning of the Virtue's Trial. And since this man had not manipulated his feelings in any way, that only left one other power that he could possess.

Freed knew what was coming, so he braced himself. Gluttony had just copied his magic with a touch, and he was going to fight Freed with it. He knew this, and he was prepared, and he was not worried. There was no way Gluttony would know how to use his magic, but he knew how to defend against it. He knew everything there was to know about Dark Ecriture. Freed was sure he had the upper hand.

"Dark Ecriture, Pain." Freed said confidently, swinging his sword in Gluttony's direction, runes in bright purple light shooting at the wizard and landing on his chest.

Gluttony looked down at the runes and shrugged. He used Freed's magic, the magic he had copied, to erase the runes from himself, making Freed's attack useless. Then he went at Freed with such speed that there was no way he could defend against it. He sent runes for pain, suffering, and torture right at Freed, all at the same time. They landed on the Fairy Tail wizard and he instantly started screaming. It was like what he had done to Elfman during the Fighting Festival, when Laxus wanted to take over Fairy Tail.

Freed screamed and pulled at his hair, falling to his knees as he felt every form of pain and suffering he had ever felt in his life, all at once. Tears streamed down his face and his screams echoed through the trees and surrounding mountains. Gluttony just looked down at Freed and laughed at him, kicking dirt and pebbles at the tortured wizard.

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Natsu was not in the mood to deal with this super green Greed woman. She wanted his scarf! The one he had gotten from Igneel. Did she not know that you can't just have everything you want? She annoyed Natsu, everything about her. Her monotone gravelly voice, the gold and jewels she draped herself with that jingled when she moved. She was also very smug and cocky, not seeming to care at all that she was in the presence of a dragon slayer. And not just any dragon slayer, but the infamous Salamander.

"Come and get me Salamander, I am waiting." Greed smirked.

"If you really know me, then you wouldn't be so cocky." Natsu smiled at her, his fists bursting into flames. She just shrugged at him.

The pink haired fire dragon ran at the green haired woman with incredible speed, his fire powering him and growing as he moved. He sprang into the air a few feet in front of her and turned himself so he was coming down right on top of her, his fists hitting first. She didn't move, and only looked at him. His fist hit, but it wasn't her face. He was blown back by an invisible force. His feet dragged on the ground as he caught himself.

"What the hell?" Natsu growled.

He jumped right back into action and this time tried getting her with a fire dragon wing attack. Again he got blown back by an invisible force. He almost lost his footing this time, but he didn't. He looked at the woman, not a scratch or burn or anything. She just stood there, shaking her head, admiring the ruby that hung around her neck. Natsu ran at her to attack again, but then stopped short and did a fire dragon roar instead, to try and surprise her. But the flames just bounced back and the force of them sent him flying backwards onto his ass. He wiped the sweat and dirt from his forehead and cheeks. He was getting frustrated.

"Okay, I am sick of this game, it's no fun anymore." Greed sighed.

Natsu went to get to his feet but was all of a sudden to weak to do so. He could feel all his energy and magic power seeping out of him, and he could see the red aura of it coming off his skin and floating through the air, right into the hands of the greedy green haired woman. He choked on his own breath, crawling along the ground as his strength got less and less. He dropped onto his chest and clawed his fingers into the dirt.

"What….is….going….on?" He choked out, using whatever energy he had to speak. He had gotten so weak so fast. How was that even possible?

"I'm taking your magic energy of course. Do you feel weak yet?" Greed giggled.

"That's cheap. So cheap." Natsu coughed.

"No, it's victory." She smiled.

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Lucy looked up at Sloth. The girl was so cute, she looked so innocent. What was she doing in a guild like this? Lucy wanted so bad to befriend this girl, to take her under her wing and help her realize what her true potential is. The blonde haired celestial wizard smiled at the young girl.

"Why are you smiling at me?" Sloth asked quietly.

"You are just so cute! Why are you in this guild in the first place? You don't seem evil, or dark." Lucy smiled.

"Are you going to attack me or what?" The pale girl sighed.

"What? I don't have a reason too right now." Lucy shrugged.

"Fine." Sloth shrugged.

Lucy thought the girl was just going to sit there and not do anything. But the girl held her hands out in front of her, a white spell circle appearing in front of her palms. Lucy recognized the spell from when this girl and that guy Pride had showed up at Fairy Tail to warn them to not continue with the Virtue Trial. Lucy unclipped her celestial key holder and grabbed the key of Leo the Lion, but before she could do anything she was thrown down to the ground as if the entire sky had fallen on her.

Lucy tried to get up, but it was useless. There was no way she was strong enough to break through Sloth's gravity magic. But maybe she could still summon Loke, and maybe it wouldn't effect him. She used all the strength she could gather under the immense pressure and summoned her spirit friend. A brilliant yellow light blinded her for a second and then Loke was right next to her, dressed to impress in his black suit and red tie, his orange hair in huge spikes. For a second she had hope, but then Loke was down on the ground next to her, struggling himself to move.

"Dammit, I thought that would work!" Lucy cried.

"Lucy, I love you, but Celestial Spirits are slaves to gravity just as you are on Earthland!" Loke laughed.

"Well, I am going to have to try something else. You can go back." Lucy sighed.

"I hope we can fight together soon!" Loke winked from behind his tinted glasses, and then he disappeared.

Lucy buried her face in the ground, dirt getting in her hair and all over her face. She couldn't stand the pressure on her back. How long could this small girl keep this going for? Surely not too long! She had to think. There had to be something she could do. And then she remembered the Pleiades Sisters. They couldn't attack, and they would be stuck on the ground as well, but as long as they could form a protective circle around her, it would keep her safe from any other attacks. Lucy struggled to get the key, but she finally got it. She summoned the sisters, and they had just enough time to form their circle before they were pushed down to the ground, all their white clothes now dirtied.

"I am so sorry!" Lucy cried out.

"This is what we are for. Now you are safe from any harm." One of the sisters smiled.

"Too bad you guys couldn't get rid of this gravity magic!" Lucy laughed.

"Yes, too bad." Another of the sisters nodded.

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Ember had tried attacking Wrath with Hell Fire, he just ate it. She tried Hound's Fang, he just dodged it. She was getting tired of using the same attacks with the same results. If the fight kept going this way, she was going to become angry, and that would defeat the entire purpose. She started to lose faith in herself. And it was as if Wrath could sense it. He looked at her with his stormy gray eyes, a mocking smile on his face.

"Come on, I know you are a dragon slayer. Stop playing with that toy!" Wrath laughed.

"It's a Hell Hound Scythe, not a toy. And it is unnecessary to use my dragon slayer powers against an enemy like you." Ember scowled.

"Oh is that right?" Wrath asked.

"Yes. I have only used them against what they are meant for, a dragon."

"Ooooo am I supposed to be impressed?"

Ember sighed. This guy was a fast talker, and he really did remind her of an older and possibly more mature Natsu. But she was done playing games. She held her scythe out in front of her with both hands and summoned the power of the hell hound. Hell Fire engulfed the weapon, and then her entire body. She was glowing with it's light. Large ram horns grew out of her head, black speckles dotted her cheeks and chest, large claws grew from her fingers, and her eyes turned into the gold reptilian eyes of her hell hound. She felt her strength go up, her power grow. And she could tell Wrath could feel it too because his eyes grew wide and his mouth hung open.

"Whoa! That is some awesome shit!" He cheered.

Ember smiled at him, baring her fangs, and then she charged. He dodged her first swing by jumping above her, but she slid on the ground, rolled and lunged at his back before he could land on the ground. She took him down. He hit the ground hard and rolled a few times, his clothes getting dirty. He let out a few grunts and then got back to his feet. He looked at her in admiration. But the look on his face suddenly went dark. Ember braced herself for the attack that was sure to come.

The Volcano dragon slayer burst into black and red flames, lightning licked his skin. He turned one of the spikes on the side of his goggles and the lenses went black. He took in a deep breath, and Ember knew what he was sending her way. A volcano dragon roar. A pillar of black smoke, blue lightning, and red heat came at her faster than anything she had ever seen before. She went to jump out of the way but it caught her. She let out a scream, her scythe flying from her hands. She transformed back into her normal self as she flew through the air, and was entirely human when she hit the ground. She was choking on the air around her, she couldn't catch her breath. The heat she felt on her clothing was unbearable. Her eyes were burning and watering from the smoke and she couldn't open them.

Wrath walked over to her and stood over her, looking down at the dragon slayer that refused to use her powers. He just smiled and shook his head. What a pity, he thought.

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Mira skipped around, sniffing flowers, picking them, and even offering them to Envy. She was in such a delightful mood! She couldn't even remember the last time she felt so happy. The smile on her face was so large that it actually hurt, and her eyes were lit up with joy. She giggled and laughed, made jokes and told stories.

Envy just sat on a rock, her arms crossed over her chest, watching the white haired beauty make a fool of herself. She hadn't used her emotion manipulation to make Mira sad or angry, because she knew that would actually fuel her power. She she manipulated her into feeling extremely happy. And it seemed to be working out well.

"So, I take it you aren't going to fight me?" Envy asked, bored.

"No way! I am way to good of a mood to fight! We should go get lunch or something!" Mira chirped.

"I would never get lunch with you." Envy rolled her eyes.

"Oh why not! We would look splendid. You with your black hair, me with my white. We would compliment each other!" Mira giggled.

"Are you, hitting on me MiraJane?" Envy gasped.

"No of course not! Oh I am just so sorry. I am in such a good mood." Mira laughed.

Envy rolled her eyes. She hadn't expected manipulating the she-devil to be this easy. But she was getting both annoyed and bored. She wanted to fight. Maybe it was getting past the time for games.

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Gray and Pride had been in a shootout for what seemed like forever. Pride used shooting magic much like Alzack and Bisca of Fairy Tail, and his aim was incredible. Gray had been shielding himself from the magic bullets with ice shields, and sending retaliating shots with ice cannon and other various ice make attacks. If anything, the two wizards were just wearing each other out.

Pride stood in front of gray, his shiny pistols glistening in the sun just as much as his tan bare skin. Gray was pale, and not glistening, but his ice was definitely putting on a light show. He stood with his hands on his knees, panting for air. He knew Pride was trying to catch his breath as well, based on how far out his chest puffed with each breath, but of course he wouldn't show that. He was too prideful. Exactly as his name.

"You put on a good show my friend!" Pride said with a large smile.

"You too. Nice shooting." Gray laughed.

"Well, I am the best of the best." Pride shrugged. Gray rolled his eyes.

Something whizzed by Gray's head. His head shot up and he looked at Pride. Both of the pistols were pointed at Gray's face. He had been caught off guard. He had been distracted. What a stupid mistake! It took a few seconds to register in Gray's mind and body that he had been hit by a magic bullet. One had whizzed by his ear, but the other had gone right into his side. He put his hand there and could feel the warm blood coming from it. He let out a gasp of disbelief and let himself slip to the ground. The only thing he could think of was freezing the wound shut, so he began the process.


	9. Chapter 9- Turning Tides

Bickslow walked into the Fairy Tail guild hall and looked around. He spotted Cana sitting at the bar drinking, as usual. He walked up behind her and tapped her on the shoulder. The buxom brunette spun around in her stool and gave Bickslow a dirty look.

"What do you want?" Cana asked.

"Have you seen Laxus?" Bickslow said.

"No. He was off talking with the Master and I haven't seen him since." Cana nodded.

"Oh alright, thanks." Bickslow sighed.

"Why? He's been annoying since everyone left for battle anyways." Cana laughed.

Bickslow just looked at her, his eyes glowing green behind his helmet. She stopped laughing and quickly turned around, back to minding her own business. Bickslow let out a creepy laugh and then left the guild hall.

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Levy sat on the ground with her face in her hands. She was crying. She felt so weak. There was no way that she was going to be able to defend herself while under this charm. No matter what she did, or what she thought of, she couldn't break the spell. Her face was flushed, her knees weak, her palms sweaty. She was shaking like a leaf and it felt like she had butterflies trying to escape from her stomach. Her heart pounded so fast she could hear the blood rushing in her ears.

Lust never moved from his spot. He didn't have to. He watched over Levy with a sinister yet beautiful smile on his pale face. He let out a sigh and fixed his curly pink ponytail with his fingers. It was all so romantic to him. Watching someone be defeated so easily.

"Poor child. Such a slave to the lust inside of you." He laughed.

"This is unfair. There's a reason Charm magic is banned." Levy cried out.

"I don't bother myself with such stupid rules." Lust said with a wave of his hand.

"Fight me fairly! Charming me is not fighting fair!"

"Of course it is. Me against you. My magic, versus your magic. All is fair in love and war."

Levy balled her fists so tightly her knuckles went white. Her hatred for her opponent wasn't even strong enough to battle the feelings that his Charm magic was making him feel. She suddenly felt a hand lightly grab onto her shoulder. She lifted her face from her hands as Meredy kneeled on the ground beside her. Levy looked at her with a shocked expression, and the pink haired wizard smiled sweetly at her.

"M-Meredy….what are you doing here?" Levy gasped.

"I came to lend some assistance. But you know I cannot help you win." Meredy said. Levy nodded.

"Oh it's you! Such beauty radiates from you!" Lust chirped happily. Meredy shot him a dirty look. He had charmed her when she was trailing Laxus, Cana, and Gajeel awhile back.

Meredy locked eyes with Levy and then glanced quickly down at Levy's wrist. Levy looked down and saw the glowing bracelet. It was a pretty pink light, with a heart connecting it in the center at the top of her wrist. It was Meredy's Sensory Link. If two people felt strongly enough, they could be linked together, and anything one of them feels, the other will feel as well. That clicked in Levy's head, and just as she realized it, she heard a groan coming from Lust.

His face was as pink as his hair, and he was fanning his face. He seemed to be squirming in his own clothing. The wizard of Sin had no idea what was going on because he couldn't see the Sensory Link bracelet on his skin underneath the sleeve of his suit jacket. All he knew was that he was feeling very vulnerable. His heart pitter-pattered, his stomach fluttered, his knees shook. Sweat started to drip down his forehead.

Levy smiled. She had a chance to get on her feet, to do something, now that Lust was distracted. Of course, she was still weak under his Charm, but now he was in the same position. They were evenly matched. The Sensory Link was making it so he was able to feel all the exact same feelings as Levy, and since he had charmed her to feel so strongly, the Sensory Link was able to be successful. If he hadn't charmed her, it would not have been possible. So in a sense, he had unknowingly created the strong emotions that was allowing the two wizards to be connected. Meredy smiled at Levy and stood up, she started to walk away.

"Levy, I will break the link once I am gone. It's up to you on how to end this." She said, looking over her shoulder, and then she continued on her way.

"Of course. SOLID SCRIPT, CHASTITY!" Levy called out, holding her hands in front of her, the giant word 'Chastity' in fancy white letters hovering in the air. She threw it at Lust, and he was bathed in a calming white light.

Because she was already the embodiment of Chastity, Levy didn't get any effects from this spell. But Lust did. He started to panic. He could feel his magic wearing off of Levy as he stood there, and he couldn't charm her anymore because she had quite literally thrown chastity at him. She was beating him literally with the Virtue that was his opposite, not even figuratively. He had underestimated her. He dropped to the ground and looked at her, his dark pink eyes pleading for mercy.

Levy could feel her power coming back as the charm wore off. She started to feel confident again, and strong. She stood tall, ready to battle, and ready to win. She looked down at Lust, and this time it was her with victory in her eyes. The sensory link vanished along with the charm spell, but the Chastity Solid Script spell was still in effect, but Levy had to act quickly.

"Solid Script Dragon Flames!"

The Solid Script hit Lust with incredible force. He flew backwards into the air engulfed in a flurry of orange and black flames. He landed on the ground with a hard thud and tumbled head over heels. When he stopped tumbling, he laid there, motionless, but still alive. Levy walked over to him, and looked down. She didn't even know if the Dragon Flames spell would work. She had spent weeks working on it, hoping that she could put at least some of the power of a dragon slayer's flames into her script. Of course, she knew it was nowhere near as strong as a dragon's actual flames, but it was also way more effective than plain old normal fire.

"Listen, I know you can hear me. You're powerful, stronger than me. I just got lucky. Turn your back on this, whatever it is you are planning. It's not worth it." Levy said.

He struggled to get up, but he managed. He let out gasps and choked up dirt that he had somehow swallowed. He grinded his teeth and looked up at Levy, anger in his eyes. He looked entirely different angry, Levy realized, and stepped back. At that moment he didn't look pale and pink and handsome. His suit was burnt, his hair was charred with black from the flames and a total mess, his pale face covered in dirt, and his once romantic eyes now filled with fury.

"Screw….you. Brat. I would never turn my back on my Masters." He choked.

"Masters? The Four Horsemen?" Levy asked.

He didn't answer. He spit at her feet.

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"You Fairy Tail punks. You aren't all you are cracked up to be now, are you?" Gluttony taunted.

Freed was now laying on the ground, holding himself in pain and agony. He was still screaming, his tears leaving trails through the dirt that was now covering his face. He pitied himself at that moment. He knew he wasn't weak, he shouldn't have been on the ground. But his opponent had used his own magic against him, and now he felt what he had made so many others feel before. The fear and pain of everything in his life hitting him at one time, it felt like it was tearing him apart. He thought back to the moment he had done this very same thing to Elfman during the Harvest Festival years ago. What an asshole he had been. He had deserved every second of the beating MiraJane had delivered to him.

"So, pathetic!" Gluttony laughed. He was enjoying himself, watching his opponent writhing on the ground, covered in dirt, rocks pinging off of his face.

Out of nowhere Gluttony felt himself being lifted off the ground and being restrained. It all happened so fast, he had no idea what was restraining him, or where it had been coming from. All he knew is that where it touched his skin it burned. He could feel his skin bubbling and breaking, melting right off of him. He let out a scream. This total distraction from using his magic caused the spell on Freed to break, and for Gluttony to forget his magic altogether. He wouldn't be able to use Freed's magic unless he touched him again, but that wasn't what he was thinking about. All he was thinking about was the pain he felt crawling all over his skin.

All the pain and agony stopped at once. Freed opened his eyes and looked around him. Gluttony was in the air, suspended and restrained by what looked like bright red ropes. Freed followed them to see where they were coming from, but they disappeared into the trees. A smile creeped across his face. It was Flare's hair. She was hiding somewhere close by, lending him support when he needed it most. Makarov and Jellal must have planned all of this before hand. He hoped that his guild mates were getting similar help it they were in similar situations.

He got to his feet and with an exasperated groan, he wiped himself of the dirt that covered him. He was so filthy. It really was pathetic. The red hair dropped away from Gluttony and disappeared quickly into the woods.

"Thank you." Freed said, even if Flare couldn't hear him.

Gluttony dropped to the ground, looking at his wounds. His face went dark. It seemed to Freed that he couldn't handle the pain as it was happening, but once the physical burning stopped, he could handle it. The large man got to his feet, ready to charge at Freed. But Freed knew how his magic worked, and he wouldn't be a victim again. He quickly cast shiny purple runes on himself, sprouting a pair of glittering purple rune-like wings. He jumped into the air and dodged Gluttony.

"Who's pathetic now?" Freed laughed.

"You can fly?" Gluttony called up at him, shaking his fist.

"I can do more than that."

Freed cast more runes on himself. Using his Dark Ecriture he started to turn into a demon. Black horns grew from his forehead, his skin turning gray and scaled, his hands and feet clawed. His clothing ripped from the change in his body and muscle size, and his voice deepened. He was no longer handsome, but terrifying. Gluttony looked at him in amazement. Black magic flew from Freed's palms and showered down on Gluttony like a bunch of little black bombs. The wizard shielded himself from the explosions but fell to his knees. He was accepting his defeat. There was nothing he could do against an opponent that could fly and hit him with attacks from a distance. There was no way he could get his hands on Freed's magic as long as he had wings.

"I accept my defeat!" Gluttony called out.

Freed turned into himself again, and landed on the ground in front of his enemy. He put his sword to the large mans neck, and forced him to turn his face up to him. Gluttony grabbed the sword with one of his hands, and Freed pressed it into his neck instead of just against it, almost piercing his skin, causing him to gasp and choke.

"You can either accept your fate and continue this fight with me. Or you may accept your loss, and retreat. But I assure you. I will not lose." Freed said, a serious expression on his face.

"You're a fool. You would just let me go? Is that what Temperance does?" Gluttony sneered.

"I have no reason to go any further with this fight unless you make me. You have a choice."

Gluttony removed his hand from Freed's sword and let out a sigh.

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Natsu had no more strength left. No more magic power. No more fight. Greed sat by sitting on a rock and laughing. She had already stolen all his magic power from him, so she was only watching over him for now. When he regenerated, she would just steal his magic power all over again, up until he decided to leave the fight.

"Can't do much without any power, isn't that right Salamander?" She giggled, admiring the gold chain around her neck.

"You're going to be sorry when he gets that power back." A male voice said.

Greed turned her head in shock. Standing behind her was a tall man in a blue cloak, his choppy blue hair falling over his face, a red tattoo over one of his eyes. She got to her feet quickly, not taking her eyes off of him. She knew who he was, Jellal Fernandes.

"What are you doing here?' She growled.

"Lending a helping hand to my friend." Jellal said seriously.

"Friend?" Greed groaned. She rolled her green eyes.

"Natsu, you only have one shot at this, LOOK UP!" Jellal shouted at Natsu.

Natsu used all the strength he had left in him to look at Jellal from his spot on the ground. His vision was blurry, but he saw a golden flame burst into existence in Jellal's palm. The Flame of Rebuke. He had eaten that flame once before, when he had fought Zero the first time Fairy Tail went against the Oracion Seis years and years ago. The flame had put him into Dragon Force. Jellal threw the flame at Natsu, and he opened his mouth, barely able to move his body to catch it, but he did. He sucked down the golden flames, feeling them tickle his throat and stomach. He could feel his body becoming alive with power. The effect wasn't as large as the first time he had eaten the golden flame, but that was because Greed had drained him of all his magic. But now he could get to his feet. Now he could fight. Now, he was all fired up!

Greed gasped as she watched Natsu get off the ground. Her confusion was taking over her thoughts and she took another step back, farther away from Jellal.

"What are you going to do? Drain him again? Then I will just feed him more." Jellal smirked.

"No! I'll drain you!" Greed cried out.

Jellal fell to his knees as his magic power began to drain out of him and right into Greed's hands. He knew what he was doing, and he wasn't worried. He was only a distraction. Because Greed was focused on taking his magic power, it gave Natsu an opening for attack. He came down on the green haired girl from above, hitting her with a fist of pure dragon slayer fire. The spell was broken between her and Jellal, and he retreated, knowing that Natsu would be able to handle the fight from there, now that he had an opportunity to attack. He wouldn't stop attacking.

Natsu held onto the collar of Greed's dress as he repeatedly attacked her. Her clothes were burning more and more with each attack, her hair getting singed. Her jewels and gold chains fell to the ground, and she cried out at the sky. Natsu threw her to the ground and jumped on top of her, straddling her and holding a flaming fist above her face. She looked at him with wide eyes.

"I'm going to stop. There's no reason for me to hurt you more." Natsu said, and a smile appeared on his face.

"Are you, smiling?" Greed asked in shock. Natsu's flames died out and he got off of her, sitting on the ground beside her. She just stared at the pink haired dragon slayer.

"Yeah. Good fight, but I guess it's safe to say I won!" He chirped.

"You….what…." Greed stammered. She didn't understand.

Why was he showing her mercy? Why was he being kind? After what she had done to him? She could feel the tears burning behind her eyes, but she refused to let them fall. She pushed all her emotion back. She would not let this man see her cry. She would not be seen as a sore loser, or a little whiny girl. She closed her eyes.

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"LUCY, YOU ONLY HAVE A FEW SECONDS!" A female voice cried out to her.

Lucy turned her head, struggling against Sloth's gravity magic. The Pleiades sisters were still on the ground in a circle around her, protecting her and keeping her safe. Standing outside of the gravity field was Yukino, the white haired Celestial Wizard of Sabertooth. Lucy was excited to see her, since she hadn't seen her since the Grand Magic Games, but this wasn't the time for joyful reunions. The Celestial Spirit of Libra appeared out of thin air, a scale in each of her hands. She did a dance, and Lucy felt the pressure come off her back. Libra had balanced the gravity.

She jumped up quickly and summoned Virgo. A pink haired girl in a maids outfit, with shackles around her wrists and ankles appeared in front of her.

"Is it time for punishment, princess?" She asked Lucy sweetly.

"No! Go and restrain her!" Lucy said, pointing at Sloth, who was just sitting on the edge of her cliff with a shocked expression.

Virgo nodded and then tunneled herself into the ground. Within seconds she popped up right from under Sloth, the young pale haired girl in her arms. She held the girl gently, yet firmly. but the girl didn't put up a fight.

"Thank you Pleiades Sisters, you can leave now." Lucy said, turning to her spirits.

"You are welcome Lucy." An old woman in white said.

"Take care!" A child in white chirped, and then they all disappeared back into the celestial world.

"Yukino! Thank you!" Lucy called out, waving to the other wizard.

"You're welcome Lucy!" Yukino called back, smiling, and then disappearing.

Lucy brushed herself off and then started to climb the cliff side. Luckily it wasn't very high, or it would have taken her forever to get to Sloth and Virgo. When she finally made it to the top, she thanked Virgo again, and looked at Sloth gently.

"You're not attacking?" Lucy questioned.

"No." The young girl said quietly.

"You only have gravity magic huh?" Lucy asked. But the girl didn't answer. "I take that as a yes. Why would your guild put you out into battle without a way of defending yourself from attacks?"

"My gravity magic is my defense." Sloth said simply.

"Listen, I think you are better than this Apocalypse Keyes stuff. I just know it!" Lucy smiled sweetly.

"You don't know me." Sloth sighed.

"I'm sure you are a good person. You don't seem evil to me!" Lucy giggled.

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Before Wrath could attack Ember more as she was laying there on the ground, refraining from using her dragon slayer magic, he was struck with a bolt of powerful lightning. He let out a distressed and confused yell, but it didn't knock him to his knees, he was still on his feet. He shook the electricity off of his skin. He used lightning, so it would take a lot of it to affect him in any significant way.

"Wow, you're still on your feet?" Ember's eyes snapped open at the sound of his voice. It was Laxus. What was he doing here?

Laxus came onto the battlefield and stood between the two dragon slayers. Wrath looked at him with curiosity, and Ember looked at him in shock. She reached her arm out to him, as if begging him to not get involved. She could feel tears burning her eyes. She didn't want Laxus to see her like this.

"Ember, you need to buck the fuck up and go into this fight the right way. I can't fight this one for you." Laxus said sternly. He didn't even look at her.

Wrath took in a deep breath, and Laxus knew what that meant. Within seconds a Volcano Dragons Roar was coming at him in a pillar of smoke, fire and lightning. Laxus sucked down the blue lightning as if it was a tasty meal, and his skin began to spark and rage with both golden and blue bolts of electricity. The smoke and fire that hit him didn't even faze him. A cocky smile appeared on his face, and he charged at Wrath.

Ember watched the two dragon slayers as they battled each other. Lightning burning holes in the ground, smoke causing tears to fall from Laxus's eyes because he refused to shut them. Dirt was swirling up from the ground in the storm the two wizards were creating. Ember choked on it, the air so thick it was hard to breath. She knew Laxus wasn't using his full power against Wrath, but she didn't know if the red headed dragon slayer was using his full power or not either.

She was embarrassed. Laxus had been very clear with what he said to her. She needed to suck it up. She had to finish this and stop being a baby. She let her anger at his words flow through her. She didn't need him to fight her battles. She didn't need anyone to fight them! She was completely able to do it on her own. She had survived 20 years on her own. There was no reason her boyfriend should be defending her like she was some damsel in distress.

Her body lit up with a blue aura, shadows curling into the sky from it's edges. She got to her feet and charged at the two men, knocking them both onto their asses. She stood between them, looking down at them both. Laxus nodded at her, and then he retreated. Wrath looked up at her, turning one of the spikes on his goggles so his lenses dimmed and he could see her better.

"Whoooaaaaa baby! Look at you!" He laughed, getting to his feet. "This is what I'm talking about!"

"Are we going to fight? Or talk?" Ember growled.

Wrath made his glasses darkly tinted again, and lunged at her. She braced herself against him and they stood there, their strength matching, their arms locked together, neither of them moving.

"We are not going to get very far like this!" Wrath laughed.

Ember knew what she had to do, but she also knew that it might kill them. She didn't care. All she cared about was finishing this battle, and Laxus was long gone so he was in no danger. Her life meant nothing, but Fairy Tail was everything. And she would win for Fairy Tail. She took in a deep breath, preparing for a roar. Wrath took her cue and began to do the same. They both knew that there was a good chance they could both end up dead by attacking each other so close. Ember knew not to put all her power into the attack, to at least try and spare their lives. She hoped Wrath would do the same.

The two dragon slayers roared at the same time, an explosion of blinding blue light, smoke, fire, and crackling blue lightning engulfing them. They were thrown from each other. Ember flew through the air, screaming. She hit the ground hard, the Earth breaking beneath her. When the light settled and the explosion died down, she opened her eyes. Silence surrounded her. Gray ash fell from the sky onto her face like snowflakes. She wiped at her face with the sleeve of her now ruined leather jacket, but it only smudged the ash all over her skin. She looked over to Wrath, who was also laying on the ground. He was trying to get up, but he didn't have the strength, he finally gave up and just layed there, taking his goggles off and looking over at her.

"Hey…" Ember coughed.

"What?" Wrath croaked, his voice cracking.

"Don't get lost in this darkness shit. I very easily could have, but I didn't."

"Don't talk to me like you know shit about me."

"I know I don't know anything about you. But listen….my real father is Zeref. If I can do it, if I could persevere, and make it past my darkness, so could you."

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Midnight watched from a distance as Mira skipped around like a lunatic. He shook his head. One of the most powerful wizards in Fairy Tail, and she was picking flowers for her enemy. Of course Midnight knew it wasn't her fault, not entirely. Envy was manipulating her into feeling overwhelming happiness. Although, from what he knew of MiraJane, he wouldn't put this kind of thing past her. But he knew what he had to do in order to snap her out of it.

Using his illusion magic, he created an elaborate illusion around them all. Envy and Mira didn't know of his presence because they couldn't see him, but they would see his illusion. He watched from the shadows as it all played out.

Mira stopped suddenly. What were Elfman and Lisanna doing here? And why were they tied to a stake about to be burning alive?

Her heart pounded in her chest and she dropped the wild flowers she held in her hand. She watched as her younger brother and sister struggled against ropes as flames licked at their feet.

"Mira!" Lisanna called out.

"Big sis! Help us! I can't break the ropes!" Elfman cried out.

"Mira, please!" Lisanna said, tears streaming down her face.

Mira looked at Envy, knowing it had to be her that was doing this. Her happiness turned into anger of the same caliber. Envy started to panic. She knew that if the person she used her magic on was to start feeling a different emotion, that they would feel it just as strongly as the emotion she had been making them feel. So Mira wasn't a normal type of angry, she was a heightened and incredibly dangerous type of angry. This confused Envy. She knew that what was in front of her face was an illusion, but she didn't understand where it was coming from.

Envy was in too much shock to do much of anything as Mira was coming at her in her Satan Soul Takeover form. There was nothing she could do to avoid it. Mira's white hair blew behind her, a crack through one eye, giant devil wings coming from her back, and a huge serpent like tail. Mira grabbed Envy from the ground and pinned her against a rock by her neck. Every inch of Envy was shaking, she had no defense against this attack. She didn't know what to do. Trying to manipulate the feelings of a Takeover form was a gamble, and probably wouldn't work. Anyways, she was scared to try.

Slowly, Mira started to change back into herself. The pink body suit turning into a pink flowing dress. Her white hair no longer pointing at the sky but falling down her back. No more claws, no more wings, no more tail. It was the normal MiraJane, and she was smiling.

"I hope I didn't scare you too much. I don't know where that outburst came from!" Mira laughed embarrassed.

"Uh….uh…." Envy couldn't even get any words out.

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Gray winced in pain as the bitter cold of his ice formed over his bleeding wound. But the blood was coming out to fast, and the ice couldn't seal it. He held his hands over it, them quickly getting covered in blood. There was no way he could fight with a wound like this. He would bleed out. But he couldn't retreat either. He grinded his teeth in anger.

"Dammit Gray! Dammit!" He scolded himself.

The wind started to pick up. Pride looked up at the sky, expecting to see storm clouds rolling in, but the sky was clear and blue. He scratched his head. The wind got really strong, almost blowing him off of his feet, and making Gray brace himself against it so he didn't fall onto his injured side. A wind tunnel began to form around Gray, getting thicker and thicker until Pride couldn't see the Ice-Make wizard anymore.

"What the…?" He gasped.

Gray was scared. He had no idea where the wind barrier had come from, but it reached all the way to the sky. A blur of blue and pink dashed from the wind and landed next to him. It was a young girl in a blue dress, her dark pink hair in two spiky pigtails high on her head.

"Chelia!" Gray almost shouted.

"Gray, I have to heal you quickly. Don't move!" She chirped in a sweet voice, and using her Sky God Slayer powers, she healed Gray's bleeding wound entirely.

He touched his flawless skin in amazement. It had been so fast. He didn't even feel any pain anymore. He looked at Chelia and smiled.

"Thanks Chelia, I really needed that." Gray laughed.

"I know! But I have to go! Take care Gray!" Chelia smiled and then she disappeared into the wind barrier. Quickly after she disappeared the wind barrier itself did, and the wind entirely died away.

Pride looked over at where the wind barrier had been, and Gray was standing there with an Ice Canon, and it's attack was already hitting him. Pride fell to the ground but shot at Gray with his twin pistols as he was falling, and even as he hit. Gray made an ice shield to block the bullets, knowing this time that Pride was incredibly fast and they would be coming for him. The bullets kept coming, Pride wouldn't stop shooting. Gray had to keep remaking his ice shield in order for it to be effective because the bullets would eventually pierce it.

Gray created a boomerang out of ice and tossed it over the top of his shield. The boomerang flew at Pride and he laughed as it missed, but the joke was on him. As the boomerang turned itself around to come back at Gray, it knocked the pistols out of Pride's hands. It was as if all of it happened in slow motion.

Pride looked on in shock as his guns fell from his hand, while at the same time Gray popped up over his ice shield, a large ice bow and ice arrow ready to shoot in his hands, and fired. The arrow flew at Pride and pierced him in the shoulder.

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Jellal, Laxus, Midnight, Yukino, Chelia, Flare and Meredy all sat in a circle in a clearing in the middle of the woods. This was the spot that the seven wizards of Fairy Tail had decided on as a spot for all of them to meet up when they were finished with their fights. If none of them returned within a day, it was to be assumed they lost and to go back to Fairy Tail for help in retrieving them.

The seven of them had been sent out by Makarov as a security blanket. It had all been planned ahead of time behind even Jellal's back. It had been Erza's idea. They were to watch the battles from a distance, and determine who would be more useful when the time came for their assistance. They had all known none of them could actually fight, but they could do whatever possible to get Fairy Tail back on it's feet. And they had done that. Now they only hoped it was enough.

"Anyone else notice that all of the Sins are almost useless in a battle? Their powers are pretty incredible, but if they are caught off guard they are done for." Jellal said.

"They have to make the first move, or at least dodge the first attack. If they do that their powers are pretty effective." Meredy added.

"Yeah, against one opponent. It's like they knew that they could only be beat by one person, so that's all the power they needed." Midnight said.

"No, their Master's knew that. Not them." Laxus grumbled.

"What makes you say that?" Chelia asked.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but the jerk I saw was pretty ignorant. He's stronger than he even knows. And he's pretty cocky." Laxus said.

"Yeah, the girl Lucy was against used only Gravity magic. She had no attack magic." Yukino nodded.

"Hmm, now that you say it, Mira's opponent manipulates feelings. But that can't do much if she was to have more than one opponent. I doubt she could manipulate the feelings of a group." Midnight said.

"Well, all this information is good to know." Jellal smiled.

Lucy and Natsu were the first two to show up. Lucy wasn't wounded, only dirty, and her strength wasn't depleted either, so she was in high spirits. Natsu was significantly weak compared to what he usually was, because all of his power had been drained and the flame Jellal had fed him was enough for some attacks, and also gave him enough strength to walk. But Lucy had to help him out a bit.

"Laxus, this is what happened to you right?" Natsu asked.

"Yeah, shitty, isn't it?" Laxus laughed. Natsu nodded and laid down on his back, quickly falling asleep.

"I feel bad for the girl I was against. She doesn't belong in a guild like Apocalypse Keyes. She is obviously being manipulated." Lucy sighed.

"That's the way dark guilds usually work." Meredy said, putting a hand on Lucy's shoulder.

Freed, Levy and Mira showed up together soon after. Freed was absolutely filthy, and Laxus poked plenty of fun at him for it. This embarassed Freed, but he kept silent. Levy explained to them what Lust had put her through, and her embarrassment of that was apparent.

"Ooooo I can't wait to tell Gajeel!" Meredy teased her.

"Oh gosh!" Levy blushed.

"It's okay Levy, I was picking flowers for my opponent!" Mira giggled.

That made everyone laugh. Classic Mira, too nice for her own good. Everyone was started when the giant Hell Hound, Nunu, bursted into the clearing. Gray ran up behind him, out of breath. He wiped sweat from his brow. Ember was draped over Nunu's back. Laxus jumped up and the hound lowered himself to the ground so Laxus could grab her off his back. She was conscious, but weak. When she was on her feet she shoved Laxus away and walked over to join the circle of wizards. She stumbled and almost fell, but Gray caught her, helping her sit on the ground. Laxus crossed his arms over his chest and went over to Ember, sitting down next to her.

"You know I was just trying to piss you off with what I said, right?" Laxus asked.

"Well, it was effective." Ember breathed.

"I was told what to say! It wasn't even my words!" Laxus shouted.

Ember let out a sigh, allowing herself to lose the fight, just this once. She let herself crumble against Laxus. He pulled her close to him and held her as she fell asleep.

"Okay, some of you definitely need some medical attention. We should probably head back to the guild." Jellal said.

"Agreed." Gray nodded.


	10. Chapter 10- Children of Heaven and Hell

The wizards returned to Fairy Tail after their battles with the Sins to much cheers and applause. They all knew that the fight wasn't over yet, but for now everyone was safe at home and being treated for their wounds. No one knew when The Four Horsemen would show their faces, but it was a definite that they would. All anyone could hope was that the injured had time to heal enough to fight again. But this was a battle that everyone was prepared to fight, not only the seven wizards chosen based on the Virtues. And they were all prepared.

Yukino, Flare, Midnight and Chelia did not return to Fairy Tail with the rest of the wizards. And Gray, Natsu, Ember, and Freed were all being medically treated by Porlyusica, with the aid of Wendy's sky magic. Mira, Levy, and Lucy were not wounded, just tired, so they didn't need medical treatment. Laxus, Juvia, and Lucy were camped out in the sick bay with their wounded friends, while the rest of the guild and Jellal, Meredy, and Cobra talked about the fights and possible strategies for when the Four Horsemen showed up.

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They had been defeated, and they stood in front of their Master's with their heads down. None of them had any words or explanation for their failure, and they knew that the Master's were angry. Each one of them got lectured and scolded.

"How could you all fail? How?" An angry male voice shouted from the shadows of the dark room.

"We don't know, we are so sorry we failed you." Gula, known as Gluttony, said with his head bowed.

"Failed is an understatement." A female voice sneered.

"Sorry Mistress." Invidia, also known as Envy, sighed heavily.

"It looks like we will have to take care of this one ourselves." Another male voice barked.

The room went silent, and the Master's sent their children out of thier sight.

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"Ira, how could you lose!" Avaria yelled at her comrade. She fiddled with her gold chains nervously.

"Seriously? I went head to head with another dragon slayer! You have the power to drain someone of their magical power and you still lost! So don't get on my case!" Ira turned to her, baring his teeth.

Luxuria stepped in between the wizards of Wrath and Greed. Now was not the time for them to be fighting with each other. They were all lucky to not have been physically scolded by their Master's.

"Enough, the both of you. We were outmatched, that's all. It's not our fault." Luxuria said in his calm soothing voice. He flipped his curly pink ponytail.

"What are you saying Luxuria? That it was the Master's fault?" Gula asked, crossing his arms over his muscular chest. His timid little sister Acedia, or Sloth, stood close to his side.

"Maybe." Luxuria shrugged.

"You better watch what you say Luxuria. If they hear you…." Invidia whispered. Her envious green eyes glowed against her pale skin.

"I agree with him." Bris chuckled. The wizard of Pride put his hands on his hips confidently.

"Shut...up." Invidia said through her clenched teeth.

"They…..put us in bad situations." Acedia said quietly. Her pale blue eyes sad.

"What do you mean little sis?" Gula asked, looking down at the small girl.

"We were defenseless. We….we were clearly unmatched." She whimpered.

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"When do you think they are going to show up, Master?" Erza asked, leaning her elbows on the bar.

"Soon. They won't wait very long. They will want to attack when some of our members are down." Makarov said. He took a sip from the mug he was holding.

"Hopefully they aren't much stronger than their Sins. If that's the case, we should be fine." Jellal said.

"What makes you say that?" Erza turned to him.

"Well, they only got the upper hand on everyone because it was one on one. Once someone else came into the mix, it was game over. They aren't as strong as they appear. If it's the same case with the Four Horsemen, then all of us against the four of them shouldn't be that bad." Jellal explained.

"So, you are thinking they might just be a bunch of fancy names and hype?" Meredy questioned.

"I'm leaning towards that. But we won't know until they show up." Jellal sighed.

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Freed sat next to Laxus at Ember's bedside. Porlyusica had treated his scrapes and cuts that he had received while battling Gluttony. Most of the damage he suffered was mental. He now knew what his magic could do to people, and it made him wary of it. Years ago that would not have ever bothered him, but now it did. He had once used his power against his own guild mates. He didn't realize how badly it had effected them until he had suffered from it himself.

"Freed, I can see the guilt on your face." Ember said, grabbing his hand.

"Yes." Freed sighed.

"I don't know what it's from, but stop it." Ember laughed.

"I shall try." Freed smiled.

"Ugh, why do I always end up in this room?" Ember groaned.

"Because you get yourself into trouble." Laxus huffed.

"I think it's because I am too weak for these battles. I always come out injured." Ember sighed.

"No. That's not it at all." Gray butted into the conversation from his bed.

Laxus, Freed, and Ember looked over at Gray. He was laying there with his hand on his side, over his wound. Chelia had healed it when he was battling, but due to the extent of the wound she wasn't able to heal it deeply enough, so it was still causing him pain. It would be as good as new quickly though thanks to Wendy and Porlyusica. Juvia sat beside him like a protective guard dog.

Natsu and Lucy were now paying attention to the conversation. Natsu had minor cuts and bruises, but he was significantly drained of his magic because of Greed. The flame of rebuke that Jellal had gifted him in battle had entirely worn off, so he could barely move. His magic was taking a long time to come back, just like it had been with Laxus when Greed had targeted him.

"Well, thanks Gray. But I think you are wrong." Ember smiled.

"Gray isn't wrong. Juvia agrees." Juvia smiled back at her.

"Yeah, stop being down about yourself, you're one of us. There's no way you are weak!" Natsu cheered.

"Exactly!" Lucy chirped.

"Thanks guys." Ember sighed.

The door to the room opened and Cobra walked in. Ember smiled at her brother, happy to see his face. She hadn't seen him since she had gotten back to Fairy Tail. He came over to her bedside and looked down at her. Nunu, her hell hound, was curled up next to her and taking up most of the bed, so Cobra couldn't sit down on it. And there was no more seats left because Laxus, Freed, Juvia, and Lucy had taken them. So he just stood.

"How are you feeling?" Cobra asked her.

"I'm alright. I should be up and ready to go within a day or so." Ember answered.

"Sounds good. Although it may not be soon enough." He sighed.

"What do you mean?" Gray asked.

"The Four Horsemen will surely make their move. And it will probably be really soon." Cobra explained.

"Makes sense. Why would they wait for anyone to heal." Laxus grunted.

"Exactly. So that means anyone who is remotely injured, needs to stay here. Don't even think about leaving this room, no matter what happens." Cobra said sternly.

"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do?" Natsu growled, shaking his fist at Cobra.

"Natsu….he has a point." Lucy giggled.

"Lucy, I'm counting on you to keep him where he needs to be. All of you, Juvia, Laxus, Freed." Cobra said.

"So wait, we can't leave either?" Freed asked.

"Not if you are to make sure these fools are safe." Cobra nodded.

"So if those Four Horsemen attack the guild, we can't come and defend it?" Laxus gasped.

"Listen. Protect the injured ones. Your loved ones. That's what is important. Okay?" Cobra snapped.

"Understood." Freed nodded.

"Good." Cobra smiled.

The poison dragon slayer leaned down and hugged Ember, and then he left the room. She looked over at Natsu, and he was pouting, with his arms crossed over his chest and steam pretty much coming out of his ears. Gray didn't seem bothered at all by what Cobra said, he was keeping a cool head about it. Typical of the both of them.

"I feel like I am being treated like a child." Natsu huffed.

"Oh calm down fire breath, you won't be any good in a fight right now anyways." Gray chuckled.

"Gray, watch it! I will get better you know! And when I do!" Natsu growled.

"Yeah yeah okay. Whatever." Gray laughed.

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Makarov knew they were coming, he could sense them. They were close, and there was four of them. He didn't know this himself, but Cobra did. He could hear them. Their thoughts, their breath, their steps. He could hear the magic that flowed through them. But he wasn't scared. Fairy Tail's Master, the Crime Sorciere wizards, and Erza sat stone still, waiting patiently. They knew that any moment the door to the guild hall was going to open, and The Four Horsemen were going to walk in.

The door creaked open behind them. They could feel the tension in the air. The guild hall went silent as footsteps echoed against the wood floor. When the footsteps stopped, they turned around. Four wizards stood there, two males, two females. The Four Horseman of The Apocalypse and the leaders of the dark guild Apocalypse Keyes. Fairy Tail kept their confidence. If seven of their own wizards could take out the Seven Deadly Sins of this guild, then they had faith that the entirety of Fairy Tail could take out it's four master's.

One of them stood taller than the rest, not only in stature but attitude. This was Dea, The Pale Horse of Death. His almost white hair fell over one of his eyes, the visible one pale green and crazy. He looked like a tall and matured Eve of Blue Pegasus taken over by insanity. His clothes were white, but his hooded cloak was the color of tanned leather. In one of his hands he held a scythe with a blade as white as bones and the handle as black as midnight.

Next to him, standing with an air of confidence and grace, was a woman dressed in a short white dress and white cape. A gold crown laid upon her head, and she carried with her an ivory bow and a quiver of arrows. Her long flowing hair was as white as the clothing she wore. This was Conquesta, the White Horse of Pestilence and Disease.

The other two wizards were almost overshadowed by Dea and Conquesta, but they were just as intimidating. The man was muscular and dressed in black and red armor, a long sword at his side. His hair and eyes were the color of fresh spilled blood, and he had an ominous expression on his face. This was Warsaw, the Red Horse of War. And the other smaller woman was Famina, the Black Horse of Famine. Her hair was as black as oil and tied into two low pigtails, her eyes a blue so bright it rivaled Juvia's. She wore a skin tight black leather body suit with thigh high black leather boots, and she carried in her hands a set of scales.

"You walk into my guild and don't even introduce yourself?" Makarov said with a firm and heavy voice.

"No need, you know who we are, and you knew we were coming." Conquesta said seriously.

"Tsk, no manners." Cobra shook his head with a smirk, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Shockingly enough, you took out our Sins." Famina sneered.

"We weren't very shocked." Erza said confidently.

"No matter. This battle will commence, without our children of Hell, and your children of Heaven." Dea said, asserting his dominance, his presence overbearing.

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"They are here. I smell them." Natsu said, curling his nose in disgust.

"Yeah." Ember and Laxus agreed.

"Well, I guess we should prepare to hear some loud noises." Gray chuckled.

They all laughed, although they were all nervous.

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"Should we stop them?" Bris asked.

"No. It's their fight, let them finish it." Luxuria said, shaking his head.

"Should we help them?" Gula asked curiously.

"Go if you want, but I'm not helping them do shit." Ira growled.

"Please don't big brother." Acedia pleaded, grabbing Gula's hand.

The large man smiled sweetly at his little sister and put his arm around her, pulling her close to him. He sat silently with his other comrades, the seven of them looking over the town of Magnolia towards the Fairy Tail guild.

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None of Fairy Tail or Crime Sorciere wizards made any moves to attack. They wanted the Horsemen to make the first move, so that they could gauge their magic and people could jump into whichever fight they were best suited for. It was an entire guild versus four. And Fairy Tail had injured comrades upstairs to protect. They were determined, and they would not allow themselves to lose, so they tread carefully.

Cobra decided to step forward to get a reaction. Luckily, it worked. Conquesta put an arrow in her bow and shot it right at him with incredible speed. It whizzed through people without hitting them, only going for it's target.

He caught it. Conquesta lowered her bow, but she had a sly smile on her face. Cobra smirked at her, and began sucking the purple poison off of the arrow. He slurped it down as if it was noodles, and then wiped his face with the back of his hand. Conquesta stumbled backwards in shock.

"Poison arrows, huh? I hope that isn't all you have!" Cobra taunted.

The Four Horsemen went immediately to the defensive and started making moves. Warsaw lunged himself at the only other person wearing armor, Erza. The red haired wizard blocked his attack with her own sword. He pushed himself away from her and landed steadily on his feet, brilliant red light erupting around him and making it impossible to see him. When the light dissipated and he appeared again, he was dressed in a different armor. Erza let out a shocked cry.

"Re-quip armor?" She gasped.

"The Warrior. My armors are specifically built for war!" Warsaw laughed.

Erza raised her eyebrows. She looked over his armor carefully, trying to spot any similarities in any of her own. It reminded her of her Adamantine Armor, which meant it could withstand her sword, and she would have to re-quip also. She smiled at him and erupted into her own white light, appearing in her jet black Purgatory Armor. She threw herself forward, the black devilish wings of her armor carrying her in straight line. Warsaw held up his long sword and blocked her attack.

"The Knight!" Erza laughed.

"An equal opponent? I like that!" He grinned, his red eyes alight with joy.

"I wouldn't say that!"

Cana and Evergreen jumped to block both the front and backside of Famina. They looked at the leather clad wizard with cocky smiles on their faces. Famina just looked at them with her cold blue eyes in disgust.

"So you think you can come into our guild hall looking like a tramp?" Evergreen snickered.

"Excuse me?" Famina growled.

"Listen lady, I don't know who you think you are…" Cana started, but she was interrupted.

Both her and Evergreen were slammed down to the ground. It felt as if the entire weight of the world was pressing down on their backs. Famina stood above them with her scales held over her head and sly smile on her face. Cana looked through her legs at Evergreen and smiled.

"Don't get too cocky yet!" Cana shouted.

She struggled against the gravity magic, but she was able to read her deck of tarot cards, She pulled one out and held it in front of her face.

"Re-set Gravity!" Cana called out, slamming the card on the ground.

The card burst in a purple light and the gravity went back to normal. Cana and Evergreen got back to their feet.

"You have gravity magic, but can you fly?" Evergreen taunted, and then flew into the air. "Fairy Machine Gun Leprechaun!"

Little bullets of light rained down on Famina, setting off an explosion around her. She blocked the attack with her own magic power, but the look on her face clearly showed that she was stressed out.

Makarov made himself grow in size. His target was Dea, the leader. He hadn't made any moves at anyone yet, and there was something about his insane appearance that bothered Fairy Tail's master. He hoped he wouldn't have to use Fairy Law, as that was to be used in only dire circumstances. The old man's height reached the ceiling of the guild hall, his eyes lit up with divine light. He swung at Dea, but the now much smaller wizard easily avoided it. Makarov kept going at him, knowing he would eventually knock him down. He needed to at least know how much of a hit the wizard could take.

Dea sliced at Makarov's arm with his scythe. It hit, but it didn't do much damage. Makarov let out a deep laugh. The leader of the Horsemen let out a sigh and closed his eyes. He began to take in a deep breath.

"No…" Makarov gasped.

"Dragon of the Heavenly Bodies ROAR!" Dea shouted.

Makarov could only look at the wizard in shock as his attack came at him. A giant pillar of blackness, filled with stars. It looked as if the entirety of time and space was coming right at Makarov, and he couldn't move out of the way. The attack hit the old man and sent him flying backwards, transforming him to his normal size. Jellal ran and caught him before he landed on the ground.

Looking over his shoulder, Jellal made eye contact with Dea. His pale eyes were crazy, his fanged smile erratic. Jellal breathed heavily. He had never met someone else who used Heavenly Body magic, let alone a Heavenly Body Dragon Slayer. He put the old man down and turned towards Dea.


	11. Chapter 11- Fairies and Horses

Conquesta continued to shoot her arrows at Cobra, but he kept catching them and eating the poison off of them, throwing the powerless vessels to the ground. The white maiden wouldn't let up, even though she knew her attacks were useless against the dragon slayer. She could at least try to wear him out. Then she got an idea.

She loaded another arrow while holding a backup in her hand, and shot it at Cobra, as he caught it she turned and shot the other arrow at another unsuspecting target. She chose the busty white haired woman helping out the old man by the bar. The arrow flew at her, a smile on Conquesta's face.

"MiraJane!" Cobra yelled.

Mira turned around at the mention of her name, but she was too late. The arrow pierced her shoulder, sending her backwards into the bar. She put her hand to it, a shocked expression on her face. Cobra rushed to her side, and Lisanna called out to her from across the guild hall.

"Mira, don't worry, I'll just suck the poison out." Cobra said, trying to comfort her. She looked up at him. At first her blue eyes were swimming with sadness, but then something inside her snapped, and they were angry.

Magic energy burst out from Mira, knocking Cobra off his feet. He landed hard on the wood floor and shook the shock off of himself, looking at Mira with awe and admiration. She had used her Takeover magic, and she stood before him in her Demon Halphas form. Her long white hair cascaded down her back in waves, turquoise scales and claws on her arms legs and face. There were cracks in her skin, and she was wearing a striped bodysuit that matched the color of her demon scales.

She looked down at Cobra and smiled. She began sucking the poison out of the arrow that was in her shoulder, and out of the wound. When there was no more poison left, she grabbed the arrow with one of her clawed hands and tore it out of herself, and then threw it on the ground. Cobra got to his feet and stood beside her, they both looked at Conquesta.

"Two against one. Both of us immune to poison. I say our odds are pretty good." Cobra said, winking at Mira. She smirked.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Conquesta cried out.

Warsaw pushed himself away from Erza again and re-quipped his armor. This time it was a beautiful blue color with white accents, white wings at his back. His sword was longer than normal and curved at the end, and it looked like it was made out of transparent crystal. He started to hover in the air, and his hair was blowing around him as if he was in his own wind vortex. Erza immediately knew that he was wearing Wind Emperor Armor. She didn't have anything specifically to counter it.

The red haired wizard re-quipped into her Flight Armor. The cat ears on her head were spotted like a leopard, just like the accents on her armor. She had two short swords, one in each hand. This was her fastest armor, and she would need it to battle someone in wind armor. She flew at Warsaw with so much speed it was hard to see her. She was just a blue.

But he was faster.

No matter how hard Erza tried she couldn't catch up to him. She made a mental note in her mind that she had to get her hands on some Wind Empress Armor for herself.

"Erza!" a small voice called out.

Erza stopped chasing Warsaw and looked towards the voice. It was Wendy, her blue hair blowing in front of her face as she held her hands out in front of her. The wind around her started to build, getting stronger and stronger. Erza started to glow with a blue and green aura as Wendy cast her supportive sky magic on her. The spells Wendy used would give Erza both speed and stronger attacks. All she had to do was catch Warsaw and he was done for.

"Thank you Wendy!" Erza called to the young girl. And then she launched herself into the air even faster than before.

This time she caught up to him, and his face contorted in shock as she locked her arms around him and smiled. Her face was right in front of his, and she re-quipped her armor as she held onto him tightly. This time she changed into her Lightning Empress armor. She pointed the tip of the giant staff she now held right at Warsaw's armor, and lightning began to spark all over them, getting stronger and stronger.

"No!" Warsaw cried out.

"Yes!" Erza shouted.

She blasted him with an electric current, his armor taking in all of the electricity. He started to shake as the electricity started to run through his body, screams escaping his throat in desperate cries. Erza let the wizard go as he fell to the ground in a flurry of sparks.

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Cana didn't understand what was going on. All of a sudden she wasn't at Fairy Tail anymore. It was as if the battle she was just in the middle of was all a dream. But now she was in a nightmare.

She was in the middle of a large field, the sun shining brightly overhead, but feet in front of her was her father, Gildarts, being attacked by the black dragon Acnologia. Gildarts was the most powerful wizard in the guild, but he was no match for Acnologia alone. Tears started to stream down Cana's face as she dropped to the ground.

"DAD!" She called out. She remembered that her friend Ember had been raised by Acnologia, and began to wonder if she could stop him. "EMBER! HELP! STOP! STOP HURTING MY DAD! I KNOW YOUR DAUGHTER! PLEASE!"

Evergreen was drowning. She was underwater and no matter how hard she kicked she couldn't get to the surface. She grasped at her throat as she struggled to not breath in the water, knowing it would kill her.

Her life flashed before her eyes. Her childhood, when she joined Fairy Tail as a teenager, fighting her comrades during Laxus's rebellious stage, the Grand Magic Games, the fight with Apocalypse Keyes. It all appeared in her mind like a movie put on fast forward. Her heart pounded in her chest and she could feel that she was crying, even though under the water her tears could not be seen.

She could see the light from the sun shining through the water's surface, but no matter how hard she tried, no matter how bad she wanted to live, she couldn't reach it.

Elfman looked on in horror. Famina was standing above Cana and Evergreen, one hand over each of them with a black spell circle. Cana was on her knees screaming and crying for her father, Ember, and for someone to stop. To please stop. The pleading and pain in her voice sent chills down Elfman's spine. Evergreen was writhing on the ground with her hands to her neck. She wasn't breathing, and her face was turning blue from the lack of oxygen. She was kicking furiously as if she was trying to ward off an enemy. This filled Elfman with rage.

Famina's back was turned to the towering and over muscled wizard. He let his rage take over and he used his Takeover magic, Beast Soul. He transformed into a horned and scaled red and black beast, with hungry eyes and flowing white hair. He ran towards the three female wizards, the ground shaking from his power and weight.

"CANA! EVERGREEEEENNNN!" He roared, sending a shockwave towards the women in front of him.

He grabbed Famina in his gigantic beast hands and started to squeeze her. The spell circles broke and she started gasping for air and struggling against his clawed hand for release.

The illusions Cana and Evergreen were seeing broke as soon as Elfman grabbed Famina. His strength was squeezing the life out of her, and there was no way for her to keep up the spell.

Cana looked around her. She was no longer in a field. Gildarts and Acnologia were no longer in front of her. She was at Fairy Tail, and a battle was raging around her. It was total chaos, and she was sitting on the floor crying. She balled her hands into fists, her knuckles turning white. She started to grind her teeth. How could someone be so cruel? How could someone force someone to falsely see their father dying?

Evergreen gasped for breath. She sat up straight, coughing, feeling at her throat and chest and entire body. She wasn't wet. She wasn't under water. She was on the floor of the guild hall, and her friend Cana was next to her, shaking with anger and tears streaming down her face. Evergreen had no idea what had happened. It all felt like a dream, but moments before she knew that she had thought she was going to die.

The two Fairy Tail wizards looked towards the labored screams of the woman who had just tortured them with illusions. She was in Elfman's grasp, but he wasn't just Elfman, he was in his Beast Soul transformation. They knew that if they just sat by and watched, that Elfman would kill her.

"Elfman!" Evergreen called out to him. He didn't look at her.

"No! Let him kill her!" Cana snapped at Evergreen.

"No Cana! That's not the right way to go about this!" Evergreen said shaking her head.

"Since when are you so sensitive?" Cana sneered.

"I'm not the same woman I was before! And I know that killing someone is wrong! Especially when they don't have to be killed! He's not in his right mind!" Evergreen cried.

Cana let the words sink in. Evergreen was right. How could she for even a second think it was okay to let Elfman kill that woman? No matter what she did? Cana wiped the tears from her eyes. She was not the type of person to let someone die. Even if they made her think her father was dying. She got to her feet and ran at Elfman.

"Elfman, stop! It's me Cana! Can you hear me?" Cana pleaded at Elfman's giant feet.

He didn't look down at her, he just kept squeezing. The screams coming from Famina were enough to make Cana shake all over. She hated the Black Horse, but she wouldn't let her die. She didn't want to attack Elfman with magic, so she started punching his leg, begging him to stop. Evergreen got up and slowly walked towards Elfman. She made sure she was in front of him, so that beyond the woman he was killing, he could see her.

"Elfman…..please." She said in a low voice, tears falling down her face.

"Help me! Someone stop him! PLEASE SOMEONE STOP HIM HE'S GOING TO KILL ME!" Famina cried out. She had a look of pure horror on her face.

"Elfman! Please! Stop!This isn't you Elf!" Evergreen pleaded, sobbing and falling to her knees.

Meredy and Bickslow had joined Jellal in his fight against Dea, but they still couldn't stop him. Jellal had tried hitting him with everything he had, but the dragon slayer just ate his attacks, getting stronger and stronger with each one. Bickslow couldn't control Dea's soul, it was as if he didn't have one. He knew that the wizard had one, but something was keeping him from controlling it. And his totem babies were no match for the guy, so he didn't even try, they would only get wrecked. Meredy's sensory weapons also didn't affect him, and there was no way for her to do a sensory link. She had tried with his other guild members, but he had no real connection to any of them. He was like an empty vessel.

"This guy is crazier than me!" Bickslow gasped.

"No kidding!" Jellal said, trying to catch his breath. He was running low on magic power.

"Don't stop! KEEP GOING!" Dea shouted, lunging at the three wizards. Bickslow grabbed Meredy and tackled her to the ground, getting her out of the way.

Dea was on top of Jellal. He was choking him with one hand and holding his scythe in the air with the other.

"JELLAL!" Meredy called out, trying to rush to his aid, but Bickslow grabbed her.

"No!" Bickslow said, wrapping his arms around the pink haired wizard.

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Natsu was shaking with anger. He could hear the screams of his guild mates. The bangs and booms of magic clashing. He wasn't only angry that he wasn't out there in the fight with the rest of them, but he was angry that his family was being hurt and there was nothing he could do. Even if he tried to get up, Freed had sealed the door with runes, for extra safety. No enemies could get in, and no one injured could get out.

Lucy held onto Natsu, tears pouring down her face. Her body shook with her sobs. She felt so weak, so helpless, but she knew there was nothing she could do. She had been ordered to stay put. But she couldn't get the thoughts out of her head, that if she was down there with her guild, then maybe things would be different.

Gray had his arm around Juvia as she shook. She wasn't crying, but she was clearly distressed, and he was doing his best to comfort her. He shook with his own anger and not being able to help. He was biting the side of his cheek so hard it was bleeding and he could taste the iron.

Ember shook as tears poured down her face. Nunu licked the salty tears as they fell and whined at her distress. Laxus gripped her hand tightly. He was not only worried about his friends, but about his grandfather. He was too old to be battling in these types of battles. Freed just looked at the door with a blank expression on his face. He was fighting with himself to not undo his own runes and run out there to help his friends.

"Is...is that Cana yelling for Gildarts?" Lucy whimpered.

"Why would she be yelling for him, there is no way he is here. This building and everyone in it would be rubble." Laxus said.

"She's calling out for Ember too." Gray said.

"Why is she calling out for me? Why did she say 'I'm friends with your daughter'?" Ember asked, shaking.

"It's got to be a trick. There's no way Zeref, or even Acnologia is here." Freed said calmly.

"We have to get out there." Natsu growled.

"We can't. Master's orders." Freed sighed.

"You are all also injured." Porlyusica interupted.

They had all forgotten she was there. The old pink haired woman had been so quiet in the corner. She stood up from her seat and took a vial out of her bag. It was a pale blue, a calming color. She pulled the top off of it and the air started to turn the same shade of blue around them. The smell of chamomile and vanilla filled their noses.

"What is…." Gray started, but quickly fell asleep.

"Are you poisoning us? No...don't...pl…" Natsu cried out, but fell asleep also before he could finish.

Porlyusica sat down as all the young wizards in the room drifted off into a calm sleep. She felt her own eyes getting heavy. She knew that sleeping was better for them than hearing the screams of their loved ones. And she knew that they were safe because of Freed's runes. She drifted off to sleep herself.

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The Seven Sins watched the Fairy Tail guild hall as the battle raged on inside. They could hear the chaos from where they were, which was no far. They had moved closer, waiting to see if anyone came out. The screams caused them all to get goosebumps on their skin. It was horrifying. They recognized some of the screams, but most of them they did not.

"It sounds like Mistress Famina is dying. I know that's her." Invidia said, fixing her long black hair.

"Maybe Fairy Tail is winning." Gula said.

"No. There's no way if Master Dea is in there. No way." Ira said shaking his head. He was wringing his hands together in his lap.

The doors to the guild hall burst opened and someone stumbled outside. It took the group of wizards a second to realize who it was. The woman scrambled to her feet, her bow in her hands and all her arrows falling to the ground out of the quiver on her back. Her white hair was a mess and the crown was missing from her head. She looked incredibly distressed.

"Mistress Conquesta?" Acedia chirped.

The white maiden looked over at the young girls voice. She saw her guild and ran to them, almost tripping over her own feet. She dropped to the ground in front of them. They all looked at her shocked. This was one of their Master's. One of the people that had intimidated them and given them orders for so long. But now she looked just like any other ordinary woman in distress. She was disheveled and scared. She looked weak.

"My children…..you have to go in there and help! You have to finish this!" Conquesta pleaded.

"You want us to go in there and finish a battle you didn't want us to be part of?" Avaria sneered. She ran a hand through her dark green hair.

"Please, you must!" Conquesta begged.

"But I thought we were too weak for this battle, Mistress?" Bris asked sarcastically.

"No, we just wanted to let you rest. You must understand." Conquesta explained, a shaky smile on her face.

"Oh, is that right?" Ira asked, looking at her with his gray eyes.

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Conquesta was gone, she had fled. Cobra and Mira high fived, and then Mira turned back into her normal self. Cobra looked at her with a smile.

"You know, that Takeover of yours is pretty hot, Mira." Cobra smirked.

"Oh….geez. Don't be like that!" Mira giggled, pink roses blooming on her cheeks.

"JELLAL!" Cobra and Mira heard Meredy scream.

The two wizards turned towards the distraught shout of their comrade, and they saw the leader of Apocalypse Keyes standing over Jellal, one hand around his neck, and the other holding his scythe above him, ready to strike. Mira let out a gasp and put her hands to her mouth. Cobra bared his fangs and tightened his fists.

"He's almost out of magic power! There's nothing he can do!" Cobra said, his voice shaking with anger.

"What can we do?" Mira whimpered.

"If we attack he will kill him." Cobra gulped.

Warsaw was on the ground. He was alive, but he wasn't moving. Erza's lightning attack with her Lightning Empress armor had taken him out of the game. She had used his armor almost like a lightning rod. Her strategy and wits had come through for her again. She smiled down at her victory.

"JELLAL!" Erza turned towards Meredy's scream as fast as she could.

Her entire body went stiff and her blood ran cold. Jellal was literally in death's grip. One move and he could be killed. One wrong move and Jellal was out of her life forever. She didn't know what to do She knew in her mind that if she attacked, Dea wouldn't hesitate to kill Jellal right away. But she knew in her heart that if she didn't do anything, she could never live with herself knowing she let Jellal die in front of her.

She couldn't live if Jellal died. Period.

Elfman and Evergreen held each other on the ground. He had finally heard her voice and saw her through his anger. He had finally let go of Famina, and didn't kill her. He felt so guilty and so ashamed, but Evergreen was just happy he was back to himself. Cana helped Famina sit up. She knew that the woman was her enemy, but she was out of strength after almost being squeezed to death by Elfman.

"Why are you helping me?" Famina asked, coughing. She was still having trouble breathing. She probably had at least one broken rib.

"Because, my guild almost killed you. And something tells me that whatever you are fighting for, you aren't willing to die for." Cana said and smiled at her. Famina smiled back shyly.

"JELLAL!"

Cana, Evergreen, Elfman, and Famina looked towards the scream that rang through the entire guild hall. Famina gasped. Cana, Evergreen and Elfman could feel their hearts pretty much stop beating.

"JELLAL!" Meredy cried out.

"No!" Bickslow said, grabbing her around the waist and holding her.

"I….I have to help him!" Meredy whimpered.

"If you make any moved, that guy will kill him!" Bickslow growled at her.

She was struggling against him, but he was stronger. Tears were pouring down her face, and her pink hair was sticking to her face from sweat. Bickslow made sure to not loosen his grip on her, because he knew that if he did, she would go for Jellal, and it would be over. There would be no saving him.

The air was standing still in the guild hall. Meredy's scream had echoed through it's walls and everyone was watching. No one wanted to breath. No one wanted to move. Jellal's life was so delicately in the balance between life and death. Any second that scythe could come down and take his life away from him. He couldn't even defend himself. Not only because he was out of magic power, but also because his magic had no effect on the dragon slayer that was holding his life in his hands. A wizard of Heavenly Body magic against a Heavenly Body Dragon Slayer. There could be no winner, unless one of them killed the other with something other than their magic.

Jellal looked into Dea's pale green eyes. He saw nothing in them. No emotion, no regret, no hunger, nothing. He was like an empty vessel. An insane empty vessel full of magic power. Jellal's chest rose and fell gently with his breath, he knew that any one of those breathes could be his last. But he wouldn't look away from the dragon slayer. He wouldn't break eye contact. All he could think of was the victory of the guild. The safety of the injured. And Erza.

The door to the guild hall slammed opened, letting in the light from the afternoon sun. Everyone jumped, expecting Dea's scythe to come down on Jellal's head like a guillotine, but it didn't. Instead, the dragon slayer looked over his shoulder to see who had joined the party.

The wizard that walked in, walked in slowly. His hair was red like fire, his eyes gray like storm clouds. A pair of brass goggles rested on top of his head, a large spike on each side, reminiscent of Laxus's headphones. He wore a leather jacket, the red Apocalypse Keyes guild mark on one of his shins.

"Iraaaa, my son of Wrath. You decided to join the festivities?" Dea hissed, a crazy smile spreading across his face.

"He's one of the Sins…" Mira whispered. She grabbed Cobra's hand in fear and squeezed it. He looked at her with a confused expression, but then looked at the red haired wizard now standing in the middle of Fairy Tail's guild hall.

"Master…" Erza said under her breath, looking over at Makarov. He was sitting on the floor next to the bar. He looked at her as if he heard her.

"No one move." A voice rang inside everyone's head. It was Warren's, the guild's telepath. He was hiding in a corner projecting his voice to everyone on his side of the fight. They all heard him, and the guild stood still.

"I came to finish it, sir." Ira, the red haired wizard said with a cocky smile.

"Ahhh, well since you are the only one of my children with any balls, I will let you finish it." Dea said proudly.

The Pale Horse lowered his scythe and stepped away from Jellal, allowing for Ira to come forward to and do the job he was so ready to do. When the scythe lowered it was as if hope returned to the Fairy Tail wizards in one fell swoop. They all tensed up and got ready to attack if they needed. They were no longer worried about a split second taking Jellal's life. They could defend themselves now.

Ira didn't walk towards Jellal. He took a firm stance, his feet spread apart, his hands balled into fists. He took in a deep breath, and everyone recognized what it was for. In that moment they all had a vision of Natsu. The wizard in front of them looked like an older and more mature version of the fire dragon slayer, of course with different hair and eyes. But there was a resemblance.

"Another dragon slayer?" Cana gasped.

"You have got to be kidding me!" Evergreen shouted.

"So many men! I can't handle it!" Elfman cried out.

"Oh shut up!" Evergreen growled, slapping him in the chest.

"VOLCANO DRAGON'S ROAR!" Ira cried out.

The roar of smoke, blue lightning and fire barreled towards Dea and Jellal. The heat licked at everyone's skin and the light made them all have to cover their eyes. They choked from the smoke and ash. Most of them had been thrown to the ground from the force.

Ash was raining down on them like gray snow. Erza wiped it from her face with a disgusted look.

"What the? Volcano magic?" She said curiously.

"Whoaa buddy. That was something!" Cobra coughed, wiping off his robe. Mira coughed next to him, and he helped her up, wiping some of the gray ash off of her hair. But it just smudged. "Oh, that's weird. Now your hair is gray, kind of looks like an old lady."

"What?" Mira panicked. Cobra laughed at her, her hair and pale face more gray than white because of the ash.

"Jellal!" Erza cried out. She stumbled to her feet.

"I'm fine!" Jellal called out. He was on the ground, coughing heavily from the ash and his close proximity to the attack. He was entirely gray and black from the smoke, ash, and fire.

Erza ran to him and threw her arms around his neck. His whole body shook with his coughs but she refused to let go. He hugged her back and laughed.

"Wait….but…." Cana stammered. And then she noticed. "Oh my god!"

Dea laid on the floor motionless. He had taken the attack at full power. He didn't have time to defend himself. His pale hair and clothing looked almost black. It was burnt and dirty. His scythe had been thrown away from him and laid on the floor about 10 feet away from it's wielder. Everyone's eyes turned to the red haired volcano dragon slayer. He smiled and shrugged his shoulders.

"Whoops. Looks like I missed."


	12. Chapter 12- The End

Dea laid on the floor. The Pale Horse, and leader of Apocalypse Keyes, had been blasted by a Volcano Dragon Roar attack, from one of his own guild mates. Ira, the child of Wrath, had attacked him. He had sarcastically said he missed Jellal, but everyone knew that wasn't the case. He had intentionally attacked his guild master. This caused everyone to stare at him in utter confusion.

Jellal and Erza were still hugging where Jellal sat on the floor. He only attained minor injuries from the attacks blow back. Mira had gone to help Master Makarov up off the floor, setting him on top of the bar in his usual seat. The rest of Fairy Tail, and Cobra and Meredy of Crime Sorciere, watched Ira with speculation. They were waiting for him to turn on them next.

Gajeel and Levy burst through the doors. Gajeel had Conquesta thrown over his shoulder, and he threw her down on the ground in front of him. She scurried on the wooden floor on her hands and knees towards Famina, since she was her closest comrade. Warsaw was still passed out on the floor from Erza's attack.

"Found her freaking out outside the guild. Knew she was bad news. It seems we missed the fun." Gajeel huffed, crossing his arms over his chest.

"The….other six sins are also out there. But they didn't put up a fight when we took her." Levy said, sounding a bit confused.

""Of course they didn't. They don't care what happens to her anymore." Ira said, looking at Levy with his Gray eyes. She looked away from him.

"What do you mean they don't care what happens to her? Isn't she one of your Masters?' Cana shouted. She couldn't understand how someone could attack their own comrades like that.

"She was one of our Masters. Not anymore." Ira said, shaking his head.

"I don't understand." Mira whimpered.

"You will get your explanation." Ira sighed.

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Natsu jumped awake. He hadn't rememberedd falling asleep at all. The last thing he remembered was hearing Cana screaming, and all the banging and booming from the fight that was happening with the Four Horseman on the floor below him. He looked over at Lucy, who was still asleep, and nudged her hard. She let out a groan and lifted her head, rubbing her eyes with her knuckles.

"Lucy, wake up!" Natsu yelled.

"Wh-what happened?" she asked groggily.

"I have no idea! HEY ALL OF YOU WAKE UP!" Natsu shouted loud enough for his voice to echo in the room.

Laxus lifted his head first. He shook the sleep from himself and looked around the room. Freed was slumped over in his chair but beginning to stir. Ember threw her pillow over her face as Nunu began to lick it, and she tried shoving the large hound away. Gray opened his eyes and looked at Juvia, whose head had fallen right next to his when she passed out. She immediately blushed when she opened her eyes. Porlyusica only opened her eyes into slits, and then closed them again. She didn't want to be bothered.

"Did we all fall asleep?" Laxus yawned.

"Seems to be the case." Freed said, rubbing his eyes.

"Porlyusica did it! She poisoned us!" Natsu growled.

"She didn't poison us. She just put us to sleep so that we didn't have to suffer listening to the commotion downstairs." Gray said calmly.

"Speaking of...I don't hear anything." Laxus said raising an eyebrow.

The Fairy Tail wizards all fell silent, trying to listen. They could hear talking, but it didn't sound like there was anymore fighting. Natsu sniffed at the air.

"So many smells. So many people." He sighed.

"Freed, maybe we should finally go down there." Ember suggested, removing the pillow from her face.

"Juvia agrees." Juvia nodded.

"I don't know guys…." Freed sighed.

"Freed. I think we should go downstairs." Laxus said seriously, looking Freed solidly in the eyes.

"Okay." Freed nodded.

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"HEY! What did I say when I came up to that room?" Cobra shouted.

Everyone turned their attention to where Cobra was looking. At the top of the stairs on the second floor was Freed, Laxus, Ember, Natsu, Lucy, Gray and Juvia. They all began to come down the stairs in single file, ignoring Cobra's shouting.

"You all listen really well. Seriously, awesome listeners." Cobra sneered at them all, putting his hands on his hips. Mira couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh shut up Erik." Ember laughed, winking at her brother.

"It doesn't seem like any fighting is happening anyways." Gray said looking around.

"Not so much anymore. This guy came in and blasted his own Master." Cana shouted from across the room, pointing at Ira.

"Hey! You're Wrath!" Ember gasped.

"My actual name is Ira. Nice to see you are on your feet." Ira smiled at her.

"You too." Ember nodded.

Laxus walked over to Dea, who was still unconscious on the ground. He looked at him carefully, and kicked him gently with his foot. The wizard let out a soft moan, but didn't wake up. He decided he would keep a close eye on him, and stay close to him in case he woke up and wanted to start more trouble. Warsaw had finally woken up, but he wasn't stepping on anyones toes. He had joined Famina and Conquesta on the floor in a corner, trying to keep their distance from the Fairy Tail wizards. And Ira, after what he had done to Dea.

"So, why did you blast your own Master?" Lucy asked.

"Because this fight needed to end. So I ended it." Ira answered.

"But you made us the victors! Shouldn't you have wanted your own guild to win?" Gray asked him.

"Yeah, what's the deal, why would you attack your own Master?" Natsu growled, shaking his fist at Ira.

"Because I was done being manipulated. There was no logical reason for this battle with Fairy Tail to begin with. It had to be over and done with, and I wasn't going to be Dea's slave anymore." Ira sighed.

"It sounds like this is a long story." Gajeel grunted.

"Kind of." Ira nodded.

"Well, I don't care about it." Gajeel said, and then he turned and left the guild hall. Levy ran after him calling his name.

"Rude ass." Evergreen rolled her eyes.

"I will give you the time to talk child. And all those who care to listen to what you have to say will give you the time as well." Makarov said from on top of the bar.

"Thank you sir." Ira smiled at the old man.

"Go get your comrades. They should probably be at your side for this." Makarov smiled.

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The other six members of Apocalypse Keyes shuffled into the guild hall. Gula and his little sister Acedia sat close together. Invidia, Luxuria, and Bris sat on top of a table close by to them, and Acedia sat far away from all of them. Ira remained standing tall in the middle of the room, ready to explain the story behind him and his comrades. The story behind Apocalypse Keyes. The red haired dragon slayer had taken a leadership role over his comrades now, and they seemed to respect that, allowing him to take the floor.

"Before anything, I think it would be respectful for the wizards that fought us, to find out our real names. Ember already knows I am Ira, but the others need to introduce themselves." Ira said firmly.

"So, Envy, what is your real name?" Mira asked kindly.

"Invidia." the raven haired woman said, her bright green eyes lighting up the room.

"Such a pretty name!" Mira chirped.

"I'm Bris! But you knew me as Pride." Bris said proudly, his smile sparkling.

"Good to know I guess." Gray said coldly.

"Gula, the glutton." Gula said in a deep voice.

"Nice to meet you Gula." Freed smiled at him.

"Acedia…." the girl that was formerly Sloth said shyly.

"That fits you a lot better than Sloth does!" Lucy smiled widely at her. She smiled shyly back.

"Luxuria, or, Lust, of course!" the pink haired wizard said. But Levy wasn't there for his introduction.

"Avaria. But I prefer Greed." The green haired girl said from her isolated corner.

"Oh, don't be like that!" Natsu smiled at her. She just looked away from him.

"Well now that that's out of the way. I guess I can go into the details." Ira started. The guild hall eagerly awaited his explanation. He cracked his knuckles and let out a sigh. " When I was a child, my parents sent me away to a school for troubled kids. This school wasn't exactly a school. It was almost like a sick laboratory. The supposed teachers would put the kids through all sorts of mental and physical tests, and force them to use their magic. If a kid came there without magic, they were taught it, sometimes by force. For the most part I was tortured and abused. It was miserable. I wasn't taught how to properly use my magic, just how to get it to be active. It was a horrible way for a kid to grow up, and I wasn't the only one who suffered through it. In fact, all the members of Apocalypse Keyes had suffered through it at some point. Some of us, like me, Gula, Invidia, Dea, and Conquesta, are older, so it was a while ago for us. But for Acedia, Avaria, and Famina, it was just recently. Famina left the school as soon as she turned 18, which was a couple of years ago. Avaria would have been leaving later this year, since she is only 17. And poor Acedia would have been stuck there for years longer, since she is only 14. So anyways, Dea found all of us. He had been in the school at the same time as Conquesta and Warsaw, and they came together and brought up the idea of Apocalypse Keyes. They would make this strong guild based off of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse and the Seven Deadly Sins, and the guild would take down that horrible school, so that no children ever had to suffer ever again. Eventually we were all brought together and given our roles. Soon after our guild even formed, you guys started researching us and all that, and it made Dea paranoid. So he figured the only way to get you guys off our tail, was for us to go through with fighting you."

"So wait a second, your goal this entire time was to take down a school that tortured children?" Cobra asked.

"A school all of you had gone to at some point in your lives?" Erza added.

"Correct." Ira nodded.

"Why didn't any of you just say something instead of going into all this fighting?" Erza gasped.

"The four Master's wouldn't let us. We had to keep up the ruse of being some tough dark guild, and not just a bunch of troubled ex-students of some corrupt school. They manipulated the seven of us into thinking it was what was best, while also tearing us down anytime we failed something they wanted us to do. " Ira explained.

"It was almost like another form of the crap we went through at the school. But we followed their lead because we just wanted to be successful." Invidia continued.

"So that my sister was safe, and no other child would have to experience that horrible place." Gula sighed.

"So the only reason you stayed a dark guild was because as an official guild, you wouldn't have been able to take down the school?" Lucy said.

"Exactly." Ira nodded.

"That's why we were not fit to really fight your guild. We can hold our own in defense if it's one other wizard. But once it becomes an actual fight, we are at a loss. We were never taught the entire ins and outs of our magic." Invidia explained.

"Which is why when we were fighting you, as soon as we had backup for a few miniutes, your entire defense fell apart." Ember nodded.

"So, what are you all going to do now?" Natsu asked.

"Probably disband. Find guilds of our own. Get better with our magic, and do better things with it." Ira said.

"You're all weak. Every single one of you. I should have never trusted any of you!" Dea called out from his place on the floor.

Everyone looked over at the heavenly body dragon slayer. His pale green eyes were as crazy as ever. Laxus had cast a bright yellow spell circle below him, ready to use it if he made any sudden movements. But Dea stayed on the ground.

"Say what you want Dea, but we are done. I don't know about Warsaw, Famina, and Conquesta. But we are all done." Ira sneered at him.

" I don't need any of you! I will take that place down by myself!" Dea cried out.

" No. I will alert the magic council of this place, and they will take care of it. None of you will have to get your hands dirty with such an awful place. Move on with your lives, and start living them." Makarov interrupted.

"What…" Dea choked.

"You heard me. It will be taken care of. You all need to go on with your lives. And the doors of this guild are open to any of you who wish to take up the offer." Makarov nodded.

"No. That wouldn't be right after everything. We will find other guilds." Ira rest of his comrades nodding in agreement. "But thank you."

"Well, I wish you all the best of luck. Now, shall we celebrate our victory?" Makarov said with a giant smile. Everyone raised their hands in the air and let out a loud cheer.

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( I didn't know how else to end this one. I know it's abrupt, and kind of lame. But there was nowhere else to go with it. I of course will be writing a third installment to this series of fanfictions….this time it will be a romance/drama/comedy, so I am taking a different route than all the fighting. Thank you for reading, and sorry for the lackluster of this one. :D)


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